


Gang of Four

by ReggieJackson



Category: Animaniacs, Bonkers, Disney - All Media Types, Home on the Range (2004), Looney Tunes | Merrie Melodies, Pinky and the Brain
Genre: Action/Adventure, Complete, Drama, Family, Fanfiction, Finally finished, Friendship, Gen, Humor, MILD - Freeform, Mild Language, Mystery, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-15
Updated: 2019-03-15
Packaged: 2019-08-02 15:55:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 107,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16308209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReggieJackson/pseuds/ReggieJackson
Summary: When the Warners go missing, a series of events follow in which the studio is sent on a spiraling road towards bankruptcy. Now it is up to an unlikely misfit group to find them and save the studio. But the journey turns out to be more difficult than any of them would have thought. Slight A/U.





	1. Prologue

******  
**

**Hello everyone! This is my first time posting on Ao3!  I Haven't really seen many too much Animaniacs stories on this site, so I figured why not?  I initially had this story at the Fanfiction website, so I though I'd share it here as well. The cover art you see above was created by yours truly, and is also view-able on my DeviantArt art account.  Hope you guys like it! All reviews and or constructive criticism near the end are appreciated.  I do not own Animaniacs, they belong to Warner Bros./ Steven Spielberg.**

* * *

 

April 1st  
  
_Please don't start with the jokes, please don't_  
  
Dr. Otto Scratchensniff anxiously fretted as he sat down in his seat. In front of him, the Warners confidently stood at the podium, awaiting the next round of questions. Today was a very important day for them. The psychiatrist hoped that all his preparation work for today's press conference wouldn't be for naught. Flashbacks of him trying to teach them manners in the episode "Taming of the Screwy" came flooding back to his mind. The interview was held inside one the studio buildings in the Warner Bros movie lot. Seated behind him, several reporters and cameramen were actively awaiting answers from the special guests before them.  
  
"You there!" Yakko pointed at a red-headed female reporter.  
  
"Yakko, would you mind giving us details about your upcoming shooting session?" she asked.  
  
"Would you mind giving me your number?" This was followed by a brief pause from the reporter and few chuckles from the audience. Scratchy shook his head in frustration.  
  
_No! No! No!_  
  
"Just kidding, but we'll start shooting in a few days after we land in Orlando…"  
  
However much to Scratchensniff's relief, aside from that one comment, they haven't done anything out of line for the rest of the interview. He was impressed that the Warner's were actually being professional for once. Well...almost professional. They answered all their questions politely and fluently. They retained good posture and behavior as they listened to others. They actually showed signs of maturity and responsibility, two vital things he long thought the Warners would never have.  
  
"So Yakko, do you three still have any plans as far renewing your hit TV show Animaniacs?" another reporter asked.  
  
Scratchy had heard this question before, and their response several times during practice sessions, but it still shocked him none of the less.  
  
"No" they replied in unison. A few stunned reporters gasped at their response.  
  
"Look, as much as we loved working on the show. Uh… we really want to move on to new things now." Yakko answered.  
  
"Besides, it was starting to get exhausting to work on the show any longer. We're almost glad the show ended when it did." Dot came forward. When she finished, Wakko spoke up.  
  
"That's why we wonder how the Simpsons and SpongeBob are able to keep going after 10 plus years..."  
Scratchensniff gazed at the trio as they stood behind the podium. They didn't look much different compared to their appearances on the show unless you ignored the fact that they had all grown at least half a foot. Yakko now wore a brown vest to match his pants. Wakko's signature red cap now had his initials sewn on in bold letters. Dot donned a pink shirt to match her skirt. Their personalities weren't that much different either; Yakko was still the talkative wise-cracker, Dot was still just as vain about her cuteness if not more than ever, and Wakko's creativity and appetite showed no signs of slowing down.  
  
As the interview continued for the next several minutes, Scratchensniff's mind drifted to how much had happened since the first day he met them all those years ago. Since that day, it has always been his job to control their zany attitudes. And considering how much he failed at doing so, it was a miracle he still had a job.  
  
But his methods seemed to have impacted them somewhat. Now that they were older, they had started to become less irritating and chaotic. They were much more open to talk about things. They weren't as persistent in their never-ending mission to turn his life upside down. He no longer took the full brunt of their "special friend" antics. It was a very small change, but still noticeable nonetheless. Scratchensniff wasn't sure if it was that they finally started to mellow out, or if he was actually starting to go crazy.  
  
There would be days where he would invite them in his office and they would just talk. He would sit down and listen to them. And listen, and listen, and listen. He managed to understand more about them by letting them speak their minds, rather than prodding them with a myriad of questions. Sometimes it was about any recent misadventures that happened on or off the lot, other times they would jokingly talk about what things they liked, or what they did in their spare time after the show ended. This was when he found out about their new interest in movies.  
  
He remembered how the Warners were so excited about the direct to video feature film "Wakko's Wish". After so many years of doing movie parodies, they would finally be in a movie of their own. It was going to be the breakthrough chance they were looking for. The movie turned out to be a moderate hit when it was released. While he and the other Animaniacs cast enjoyed working on the movie, much to everyone's surprise, the only people out of the entire cast who were most critical of it, were the Warners themselves. Their criticism even surpassed Slappy who mainly hated working on it because it called for her to sing and dance. Yakko didn't like because he felt it came off as a discount Disney film, Wakko felt there was a lot of great stuff that was edited out in the final cut, Dot simply hated it because it called for her "the cute one" to die. All three of them were disappointed in the fact that even though it supposed to be their movie, they hardly had any say in how it would be done. They decided to turn their dream into a reality by making shorts for themselves.  
  
Scratchensniff was willing to support them all the way. Anything that produced more than just wild insanity was a great idea in his eyes. So he went out and got presents for each of them on their birthdays; a book on filmmaking for Yakko, a video camera for Wakko, and director's outfit complete a beret and megaphone for Dot. The daily talk sessions would become small film festivals in which the trio would eagerly show the new short films they made. A lot of them were actually pretty good. Scratchy initially figured that this would just be a hobby, so it was no surprise he did a double take when they told him that they wanted to make their own feature film for Warner Bros.  
  
He remembered how apprehensive Plotz was against the whole idea at first. Dealing with them on a five year TV show was bad enough, now he had to worry about them jeopardizing his studio's fortune by funding their movies? He had given them a chance to direct a short for the studio all those years ago and regretted at what a disaster that turned out.  
The Warners, however, wouldn't be easily discouraged. They did tons of research on independent films and received support from show's cast members along with donations from fans. Scratchensniff even chipped in as well, not without a bout of begging from the Warners of course. The Warners managed to complete their first independent film "Home Again" a musical dramedy starring Rita and Runt. It turned out to be a moderate hit after premiering in the Los Angeles Film Festival. Within a few months, it had already raked in over a million dollars at the box office and made the nomination for Best Picture.  
  
Needless to say, Plotz was very surprised when he found out how well the movie had done. When the Warners had announced they were going to make another one, he offered to let himself and the studio take over the financial backing. The Warners at first were unwilling to do it. It took several days of negotiating and bribery to finally get them to reconsider, but they did. While the film would technically be considered a Warner Brothers production, all directing was done by the Warners themselves.  
  
After that was said and done, what followed was a string of 5 films that eventually became box office hits. Two of them actually won Academy Awards as well. The ratings at Warner Bros studios were higher than ever before. The Warners had successfully managed to reinvent themselves and regain their popularity. Now with a new film on the way, it was destined to be their most important one yet.  
  
"A Gang of Four" the movie was called, was expected to be completed by the end of the year. While the movie had been in production for over five years, it had been hyped up that this would be their masterpiece. Despite the long production time, it was kept a complete secret for the most part. No one could figure out anything about the movie. Scratchensniff even tried to use his daily sessions to try and wring it out of them, but he had no such luck. He wasn't able to find out why they were even going to Orlando, to begin with. In an uncanny coincidence, his attention returned to the interview when a reporter asked Yakko a question.  
  
"Last question, if you're not gonna tell us what the movie is about? Could you give us a hint?"  
  
"Let's just say this is a 'special project" Yakko responded formally.  
  
"Like special friend special?" he asked. A small grin appeared on the Warner's face, a hint of mischief in his eyes.  
  
"Uh... something like that. But that's all the hints your gonna get from me so..." he blew a kiss to the audience." Goodnight everybody!" The crowd exploded into a cacophony of last minute questions and comments as the trio came down from the podium and disappeared behind the curtains. Scratchensniff waited a few minutes for them to come out after the crowd had dispersed. When they didn't come back out, he got out of his seat to see if anything was wrong.  
  
"So… how'd we do?" the eldest Warner sudden response made him jump. Scratchy spun around to see the Warners sitting in the same spot he was just in.  
  
"Excellent, But it vould have been a bit better without the jokes ja." he responded in his thick German accent.  
  
"What can I say? Good habits die hard" Yakko shrugged. Dot stood up and hastily tugged at his  
white sweater.  
  
"Did I look okay Scratchy? I wasn't able to put on as much facial before this interview".  
  
"You looked fine Dot, you looked just like your brothers" She took one glance at her siblings with a sick face. Yakko was scratching his hair while Wakko let his tongue hang out.  
"That's not very encouraging Scratchensniff." She turned back to him. He paused for a moment.  
  
"Um, You looked like a cute vonderful woman" Dot beamed in response.  
  
"Good, cause if I went up there looking like a hag, it would have been on your head! Literally!" Scratchensniff chuckled nervously, knowing she would follow up on that promise if need be.  
  
"So, Scratchy you planning on coming to the party later on this evening?" Wakko spoke up.  
  
"Vhat party?"  
  
"Our wrap party, duh. The one we're throwing right before we leave! We got the B-52's again!"  
  
A _gain?! That's the 15th time they invited them!_  
  
"There nothing like a good ol heap of campy new wave tunes from the 80's to start off our trip!" Yakko commented. After every filming project they completed, the Warners always celebrated by having a huge wrap party inside their water tower.  
  
"I still need to give the lead singer my gift," Dot said before she took out a small yellow box from her skirt. An enormous gray lobster protruded from the bag. Scratchy jumped back as one of its rock hard claws nearly snapped his head off. He was all too familiar with Dot's "special" pets, they were harmless, but that still didn't mean they made him shudder.  
  
"We were even going to throw in food to feed it too!" said Wakko as he took off his red cap; it was filled with brown pebbles. He playfully tossed a pebble inside the lobster's mouth before it zipped back inside Dot's box.  
  
"But you kids haven't even started filming!" Scratchensniff answered.  
  
"Details, details…" Yakko dismissively yawned. " The movie's almost done in our eyes, so are you coming?" Scractehnsniff cringed as he didn't answer. He'd been dreading having to tell them the news all morning. The disappearing smiles on their faces confirmed they knew something was wrong. Hesitantly, he gulped and told them.  
  
"Oh no, See... I vont be able to come".  
  
"But, but why? Don't you want to come?" Wakko came forward.  
  
"Oh of course I do, Its just..."  
  
"It's the lead singer's voice, isn't it? Well, he does sound like Yakko on a sugar high..." Dot jumped in front of him before he could explain.  
  
"Sister sis, I have no idea what your talking about" Yakko scoffed, crossing his arms.  
  
"No really, I have no problem with his voice, it's just…I'm very busy today. I was only able to get off vork for your interview..." Scratchy continued to explain. He still had a long list of patients to attend to that would eat up his time until the late evening. He was actually lucky enough to get permission from Plotz to even attend the conference at all. The CEO demanded that he return to work not a second later after it was over. It was either do your job or face the wrath of Plotz. Besides, he never really considered himself to be party person anyway.  
  
"But we're leaving with Pinky and Brain right afterward" Wakko interrupted with a slightly disappointed look on his face. Scratchy knew the mice were going to be providing transportation for them during their trip. They would be flying out of Burbank in a private plane Brain designed himself. He knew Brain all too well; despite his small stature, he was an accomplished inventor in his own right. He was also very anal of leaving on time, there would be little to no time for last-minute goodbyes. Scratchensniff was almost about to reconsider when Yakko cut in, a content smile on his face.  
  
"Lay off Wakko, if he can't make it, then that's no problem for us." He responded in Scratchy's defense. That was the odd thing about Yakko nowadays; sometimes he would prod and manipulate him into precarious situations, other times he would actually let him be. " We're just glad you came at all today".  
  
"I'm sorry, I hope you three understand" the younger siblings still didn't seem completely satisfied with their brother's answer. He hated having to disappoint the trio.  
  
"Well okay, do ya think Ralph will miss us?" Wakko asked. Scratchensnifff didn't know what to say, he hadn't thought about him in a moment.  
  
"Uh… maybe, he might miss the temporary 50% discount at Dunkin Donuts before he misses us!" Yakko cut in. " But I sure know who will miss us..."  
  
"Hello Nurse!" both Warner brothers shouted before they howled like wolves.  
  
"Boys, it's tough being the mature one in this family" Dot grumbled. Scratchensniff sighed in agreement, it didn't look like the boys' fondness for his personal assistant would stop anytime soon.  
  
"You think Mr. Plotz will miss us?" Wakko asked.  
  
"Oh yes! I'm sure he'll be very upset to see you all go," he answered, trying his best to sound optimistic. The Warners looked at him totally unconvinced. They knew Plotz was probably whooping it up in his office right now, knowing the trio would be out of what was left of his hair for a quarter of a year.  
  
"Well, I guess this is goodbye..." Scratchensniff was unprepared for the trio's spontaneous group hug. "Don't vorry, I will… miss you… too!" he squeaked. Their tight grips were starting to cut off his circulation. He was really going to miss them for the next few months. They let go and plopped back on the ground.  
  
"We'll call you as soon as we get in!" Dot squealed.  
  
"So get ready for a long phone bill!" Yakko added. The psychiatrist grimaced at the thought.  
  
"Good, now go. Brain is probably waiting for you outside" The Warners did not budge.  
  
"You sure? we don't mind stalling"  
  
"Yakko, please go!"Scratchensniff groaned in agitation. There was the wisecracker he'd grown to love.  
  
"You know there are other ways to say you want me to stay..."  
  
"Go!"  
  
"You sure that's not that's how to say no in German?"  
  
"No! That's nein!" Wakko took out a purple nine from his hat.  
  
"No, this is." he cut in. Completely ticked off, Scratchy pointed to the double doors behind him.  
  
"Go, Go! Get out Here!"  
  
The trio giggled uncontrollably and sped towards the studio's double doors.  
  
"Were just yanking with ya, see you in three months Scratchy!" Yakko called out. Scratchensniff sighed in relief, knowing they would have gone even further in the fast. Like he said to himself, they had a small behavior change, a very small change.  
  
Scratchensniff stood alone as the doors flapped open and closed. All of the reporters had long since cleared out by now. He smiled as he slowly trudged out of the studio. He was so proud of them. This would have been the longest the Warners had ever spent outside the studio. In their eyes, it was always home. A home without any parents to look after them, a home where he decided to look after them…  
He let the thought hang as he glanced at his watch.  
  
_1:15?! Oh no! No!_  
  
He was late for his appointment with Christopher Walken. Scratchensniff sped out of the studio and off to his office. He made a mental note to come straight home after work, and prepare himself for the expensive long distance call he would have to make early in the morning.


	2. In A Rut

_Police officials are still on the lookout for the three missing individuals; Yakko Warner, Wakko Warner, and Dot Warner who disappeared last week on April 1…_

_…The CEO of Warner Bros. states that they are doing everything they can to locate…_

_… It has now been 3 months since the search has been on…_

_…investigators speculate the plane may have gone down somewhere between Orlando and Dallas…_

_… as we can see, several people have gathered around the Studio's water tower for a silent moment of prayer..._

_...Earlier today, police officials have just announced that they are calling off the search for the Warners…_

March 20th 11 months later

4:00 PM

"Alright, go easy on those wings and you should be as good as new Squit." Mrs. Nurse stated while she finished wrapping the pigeon's wings into a cast. As she tended to Squit at her work desk, two other pigeons, Bobby and Pesto watched them from a nearby counter.

"Thanks," said Squit, gingerly flapping one of his wings.

"He wouldn't have to do that if Pesto would quit acting like a moron," Bobby complained.

"What? What? Who's acting like a moron here?!, he was grinding my beak as usual!" Pesto protested angrily.

"No I wasn't, I was just saying you ate little more bread than both of us this morning…" the bandaged pigeon began to explain until Pesto confronted him at her desk.

"What?! So you do admit that you think I'm a chubby chicken?! Is that it?!" he yelled.

"No, I'm not sayin that!" Squit protested. Pesto's feathers ruffled at his comment.

"That's it!" Squit wisely flew out a window just as the pigeon was getting ready to pounce on him. Pesto slammed into a pile of papers on her desk before he followed after him.

"Yo! You whack him again and I'll whack you!" Bobby yelled out as he flew off after them. Nurse groaned, she would have to tend those wings again very soon.

The clanking of her white heels was now the only sound present in the psychiatrist's office building. She bent down to pick up her papers and glanced at the clock.

 _Goodness, its only 4 in the afternoon?_ She quickly got started on sorting out her paperwork. On her desk was a small stack of folder recording all of her appointments from the current month. Had this been a while back when the Warners were still in town, the pile would have been five times taller, and a good quarter of them would have been from Ralph alone. Aside from her appointment with Squit, she only had two other patients today. It was just another long, boring, and dull day for her. She almost wished those Warner Brothers were still here to flirt with her, at least they always made her day more interesting.

"Let's see…" she said to herself before pausing for a moment. She glanced up at the wooden door at the far end of the room; the office of her working partner. Dr. Scratchensniff hadn't come out all day, not even during lunch break. Normally she would have ignored the whole thing. Scratchensniff was always more comfortable in doing work by himself anyways. He had his work to attend to, she had her own. However, recently fewer tourists and customers were coming in. This meant fewer patients to occupy their time. Like the rest of the studio, he had become very quiet. Always a workaholic, he wasn't used to not having much to do.

She may not have been a psychiatrist, but she knew his reclusive behavior wasn't good.

 _I don't want to disturb him. Maybe I'll leave this alone._ Nurse quickly pushed that thought out of her head. Something was wrong, and she knew she wouldn't be helpful by doing nothing. Before she had any more second thoughts, she cautiously trotted over to the door. Slowly, she cracked it open, hoping she wasn't interrupting an important session.

"Dr. Scratchensniff? Hello?" she asked inside, she could see him lying on the couch talking to a regular patient.

"Why hello Mr. Puppet Head, how are you?" Scracthensniff asked, staring at a puppet likeness of himself on his hand.

" _I am fine and you_?" Mr. Puppet head "responded"

"How are you feeling?"

" _With my hands_ " the felt puppet raised its arms.

"No! no! that is how you are touching, how are you feeling?!' the frustrated psychiatrist groaned.

" _How can I touch? You never gave me fingers_!"

" I'm not asking you to touch, I'm asking...!"

"Scratchensniff?" The sound of Nurse's voice immediately snapped him out of his 'session" He blinked for a moment and turned to her, his peach face flushing bright red.

"Ms. Nurse?" he asked. She opened the door all way and came inside.

"Doctor, you've been in here all morning, are you all right?"

"Of course, I'm fine" he waved dismissively.

" _No, he's not, he's talking to a felt puppet!_ " Puppethead 'interrupted'. He raised the puppet to his face.

"Shut up!" Scratchensniff snapped angrily. Mrs. Nurse came over gently grabbed the puppet from his hand.

"Why don't we let Mr. Puppethead sit this one out?" she stated as she placed it on a nearby table. This was worse than she thought. After doing that, she sat on the edge of the couch, patiently waiting for his response.

"Really Ms. Nurse I'm fine. Got to be here in case anyone needs me ja." he replied. She still was not convinced.

"Well, I need you…" she began to explain, but not before Scratchensniff bolted out of the couch.

"What do you need, is the printer out of ink? do we need more folders? is Charlie Sheen trying to break down the door again?" he asked anxiously. Nurse sat him back down to keep him focused.

"Doctor this is serious; I need to know whats wrong. This isn't like you"

"Ms. Nurse I'm a psychiatrist, I think I vould know if there was something wrong me."

"Dr. Scratchensniff, you've been stuck in this room all day, you didn't even come out for lunch break, you look like you haven't had any sleep. This isn't healthy and you know it" Not known for being outspoken, she was a bit surprised at how aggressive she was. Her working partner guiltily hung his head down. "Now will you stop being in denial and tell me your problem?" Scratchensniff raised both his eyebrows and turned to the puppet at the table.

"Wait, Vhat? Mister Puppethead you say somvthing?" She guided his face back to hers.

"No, it was me." she corrected him. "Now Dr. Scratensniff, tell me your problem"He blinked for a few seconds as he sat up straight. He let out a heavy sigh as he stared off in a distance.

"Vell, it's about _them_ …" he began. She didn't have to look far to understand who he was talking about. "It's been almost year now, but it seems like only yesterday when they disappeared. Those poor kids. They were still so young and talented. I just thought about the last words I said to them 'Go Get out of here!' Here I was worried about my job when those kids were trouble..." Nurse continued to listen as he explained. She could completely understand why he was so upset. After all the time he spent with them, the Warners had become like surrogate children to him. No matter how irritating or chaotic they could be, they didn't deserve to have that happen to them.

"It's, It's bad to lose someone, it feels even worse when you don't know what happened to them" he sniffed.

"There, There..." Nurse spoke softly. She rested a hand on his shoulder.

"Id give anythving for them to be here right now. Id even let them bonk me on head" he added. He lightly tapped his head to prove his point.

"Doctor, I'm sure they are still out there" she answered truthfully. Despite how unlikely it seemed, she was still convinced that they were still out there. Somewhere.

"Oh Nurse, I appreciate you trying to help, but Ive been around long enough to know that tings aren't always vat we vant them to be." She wasn't sure what to say next, it wasn't often they had a chance to talk outside of work. She got up from the couch.

"Well, okay. But I want you to get something to eat before you leave" Nurse headed back to to the door.

"Nurse..." She looked back at her mentor. "Thank you for coming in anyway"

"You're welcome, Doctor" A small smile appeared on her face after hearing that. After all, he always came to her if he needed anything, it seemed sensible for her to try and do the same. She didn't want Scratchensniff to go on acting like this. She had to do something to help him out, she didn't know how, she didn't what, but she would do something.

XXXX

7:30 PM

"Sir, Excuse me sir" a deep voice answered.

"Ello there, zort!" a higher pitched Cockney voice chirped. Ralph's eyes slowly reopened at the sound of the voices. He had finally fallen asleep just a few minutes ago. He grumbled as he sat up straight in his booth. This couldn't have happened at the worst time. "Woohoo, S.O.S! You think he already went home Brain?" Ralph slid down the booth's glass window with his hand.

"What?! Where are yous?" he barked irritably. He looked out only to see nobody.

"Down here" the deep voice answered again. He looked at down bottom of the gate to see the studio's famous lab mice. Brain stood with an impatient scowl on his face while Pinky was struggling to carry the edge of a burlap sack over his shoulders.

_What are they doing here? They just left an hour ago._

"Ah what do you want?" Ralph asked.

"Excuse me, we like your permission to re-enter." Brain spoke.

"Dah...What for?" Ralph lazily scratched his chest.

"Pinky and I currently have some business to attend to at the lab"

"Okays" was his reply as he let them in. The classic long bar security gate had long since been replaced with an iron gate that slid open and shut on the command of the lever. Ralph faintly remembered how the first time he used it he nearly pinched the rear of Plotz's Cadillac.

"But Brain, I thought were going to pick up the cheese wheel from the fri-" Pinky spoke up just before Brain grabbed him by the mouth.

"Later Pinky, we have a few important issues to take care of at the lab first. It will be closing in an hour" Brain corrected.

"Oh right, then we'll get the cheese wheel?"

"Of course, why do think I brought the bag...?" Brain's response was interrupted by the guard clearing his throat.

"Yous guy comin in out or not? I'm busy!" Ralph asked, an impatient glare on his face. Pinky hurridly dragged the sack inside while Brain matched the guard's sour expression.

"Come on Pinky, let's leave this ignoramus to his profession" Brain muttered. They silently passed by and didn't even look at him. Offended, Ralph whipped his head outside the booth.

"Duh, I ain't Ignoramus I'm Ralph!' he angrily called out after them. The two mice continued onward without looking back.

Perhaps the most unsettling of changes was that of Ralph. The usually cherry persona of the dimwitted guard had slowly become very grumpy. Without the Warners keeping him busy, the overweight guard had more time to focus on his job. That didn't mean, however, that he got better at it. He started to become more distracted and careless than before. While he was more attentive to the people he let in and out of the studio, his greetings became harsher in tone, he started coming in late, and he would leave long after his shift was over.

It didn't help that today had not been the best day for him. He lightly patted his shirt, which was still damp from the early morning rain shower he got caught in. The tiny out of date television box in his booth showed nothing but static. And he had gotten into an argument with an unhappy employee earlier that day. His stomach rumbled.

_Aw, now I can't sleep! Hungry though._

The security guard glanced at the box soggy rings that were supposed to be his doughnuts. They were still too wet from the rain to be edible. He decided to leave his post for a quick snack. He didn't feel a reason not to do it. At this point of the day, people hardly came in at all. He would be back before anyone, even would notice.

XXX

7:50 PM

_Hrmph, Happy Birthday indeed_

Thaddeus Plotz glanced at the crooked picture frames and furniture items he spent most of the day moving in his office. It was his birthday, surely they had returned just to play their stupid joke again. Every year he received his annual "present" from the Warners, a hidden spring laden custard pie ready to launch at the unsuspecting victim. Last year it was hidden underneath a stack of files on his desk. So far he had no luck. He wasn't too upset about that; after all, he never considered his birthday a festive event anyway. Just another reminder that your one year closer to the big dirt nap. Still, he couldn't resist knowing where they might have put it this time. The aging toon CEO slumped in his chair as he stared blankly at the walls.

How could have everything gone bad so quickly?

When the Warner's came up missing, he initially brushed the whole thing off. He figured it was all part of some stupid stunt or that they decided to make an unscheduled detour to pester someone else. But his concern grew more and more as each day passed. Soon enough, he quickly sent out a search party to look for them. He paid off several people to find them; police officers, detectives, military soldiers, he even attempted to get the National Guard in as well. Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months. No one had any idea what happened.

It only got worse from there. The number of press interviews and conferences were starting to become exhausting. Every time the press always asked the same thing "Where are the Warners? Do you happen to know who took them? Do you suspect vandals at Disney to be the culprits?" There were numbers and numbers of questions that he didn't just want to answer, but he couldn't answer.

Two of his former TV stars were starting to take the heat as well. Pinky and the Brain were currently being probed by investigators as they were the last people to see the Warners. Apparently, an unknown suspect had booted them off their own plane shortly before they would fly the Warners to Orlando. The suspect managed to take control and flew off with the Warners into the night. No one had seen them since. The mice did everything they could to locate the plane, but they had no luck. Although no one was pointing fingers just yet, the aura of suspicion lingered.

Worse enough, Plotz's hasty decisions he made with the Warners were starting to bite him in the back. Without the Warners, that meant no more of their movies could be made. Most of the studio's main income was riding on the success of their movies. Plotz gambled for profits by putting as much money as needed into their projects; sometimes more than necessary. The average film budget would range from 35 to over 200 million dollars.

In the meantime, he made sure the studio ran as if nothing happened. All employees were ordered to keep working and not get involved with the search party. After several months, the search for the Warners was proving to be very costly time-wise and financially. Frustrated and tired, he had no choice but to go ahead and call off the search.

Plotz didn't understand. Why hadn't they come back? Didn't they know they were worth a lot to him? Was the Warner trio finally out of his life forever? Sure he disliked them thoroughly, but not to the point where he wanted them dead. This was just typical he thought.

_Even in the death, those brats manage to ruin my day._

But regardless of how troubling this whole situation was, it was time to move on. He made sure everyone understood this, especially Scratchesniff who'd asked several times if they found anything about them yet. The Warners were gone period, and there was nothing to do about it, People come, people go. He stood atop his chair and checked behind the picture frame like he had done for the 5th time today.

_I know those Warners had to have put it somewhere..._

"Mr. Plotz?" the sudden interruption from outside his office caused him to topple off his chair. He hit the floor face first. The embarrassed CEO brushed himself off as his newest secretary appeared at the doorway. He often kept one around for at least one year before moving on to the next one. "I'm sorry, did I interrupt something?"

"Oh uh Corden, I was just looking for you" Plotz answered, regaining his composure. The lean secretary handed him a cup of coffee before he sat down on a chair facing his desk.

"There's a few things I need to tell you sir…"

"Don't tell me we have to do another press conference" Plotz groaned.

"Thankfully no, but I wanted to remind you that the Warner's new movie is set to be released in two weeks. We successfully reached our goal by keeping its budget under 20 million dollars"

"Perfect, I've got a lot riding on this movie" Plotz grinned for a brief moment. So far this was the best news he heard all day.

"Oh I'm confident that it will sell." the secretary replied. The movie wasn't "Gang of Four" like the Warners promised. Since production on the project was kept a secret, there wasn't much Plotz could do on it. Instead, they started on one of the Warners unfinished side projects, "Fowl Play" a romantic comedy starring Katie Kaboom and Chicken Boo. "And if that doesn't work out, our DVD sales are still bringing in a constant revenue."

"There is no _if_ it doesn't work. It has to work! What else?" Plotz cut in.

"Mr. Globwobber won't be able to to make this evening's meeting". Plotz had almost forgotten about the meeting with the head Globwobbler studios, J.W. Globwobbler. Plotz had taken out a loan from his company a few months back to cover expenses for the movie. So far he had only paid a quarter of it off. If this movie didn't do well, they were in trouble.

"Oh good, I'm really not in the mood tonight" he sighed. "Corden, I'm sorry you had to be hired in such a difficult time." his secretary rustled his slicked down black hair.

"It's fine, personally I think experiences like this are great for interns. Gives them experience" the younger toon replied.

"That's good, cause we might have to take drastic measures," said Plotz.

"What measures are you suggesting?" Corden asked. Plotz folded his arms and took one sip of his coffee.

"Our studio is losing money, ratings have dropped, debt has risen. We might have to start laying people off now"

"What departments are you considering to start with?"

"I might start in the health department. They haven't been as productive lately anyway." Plotz knew Scratensniff and the Nurse was not getting as many customers as they used to. Corden simply nodded as Plotz took another sip.

"Might I suggest another one?" Corden proposed. "What about the security department as well? You've been complaining a lot about that security guard lately. What was his name?" The CEO slammed his coffee cup to the desk, nearly scalding himself.

"Ralph! Ow! Oh, of course! I'm really getting fed up with him!" Plotz fumed, his mind instantly going to the bumbling security guard. The growing number of complaints he was getting about him were really starting to get annoying. He didn't know what was going on with Ralph right now, and frankly, he didn't care.

"Maybe later on when this whole mess blows over, I can finally hire some decent security guards around here!"

"That sounds like a plan, but in the meantime, I think we should at least wait until we hear from J.W before you consider doing that," Corden stated. The CEO arched at eye his secretary, it wasn't often people on the studio board challenged his word.

"You questioning my authority Corden?" Plotz asked rose from his seat.

"No, I'm not. But I am saying that we are in a delicate situation, and we need to treat it as one. We can't rush this." he advised. Mr. Plotz paused for a moment, his secretary did have a point, another rushed half thought out decision would be disastrous for the studio.

"All right, all right. I'll think it over" Plotz huffed. Corden checked his watch.

"Its almost 8 o' clock, I'd really like to talk more but I have to get going. We'll figure a way out of this Plotz. We're just in a rut "

"See ya Corden" The secretary left through the door, leaving Plotz alone in the solitude of his office. He hoped Corden was right. The studio had fallen on hard times before, surely they could overcome this. Yes, he was just in a rut, a very very bad rut.

XXXX

Meanwhile, the two workers were completely unaware that a third person had unintentionally listened in on them. After overhearing most of the conversation, Ralph bolted out sight just as Corden went for the door. He breezed past the vending machine he initially came up for. His appetite was long gone now. As soon as he was sure he was out of range, he stopped to take a breath.

_He wouldn't do it. That Plotz is a good guy, he wouldn't do it… would he?_

Ralph didn't understand the entire conversation, but what he did understand was that if Plotz's words were true, his days at the studio were numbered. If he lost his job, it was going to be very hard to find another one. He didn't have years of psychology studying under his belt like Scratchensniff, nor did he have a degree in any type of profession like the nurse. To be blunt, his chances of getting another job were about as likely as convincing Slappy Squirrel to attend an anti-bomb convention. And he didn't want another job, he was fine with the one he already had.

Several thoughts lingered intensely within Ralph's head as he sauntered back outside. It was a little unnerving walking alone in movie lot. The guard suddenly felt a little bad for being so rude to Pinky and the Brain earlier. They were the first guys' from the cast who actually bothered to talk to him in a while. Everyone else always seemed to ignore him, and those that didn't usually had nothing nice to say.

He stopped in his tracks. To his right, the studio's water tower loomed above him. He gazed down at the concrete movie lot beneath his feet. If this were a year earlier, he would have been chasing the Warners until they tired him out. At least they somewhat nice to him; they didn't yell at him, they actually bothered to call him by his name, they even enjoyed his company even if it was at his expense. Maybe he could catch the Warners again, that would make Mr. Plotz change his mind...

_Oh wait, the Warners aren't here._

He remembered how Plotz didn't want anybody to join the search. It was really confusing, his job was to find and catch the Warners if they disappeared from their tower, now that they were gone he couldn't go look for them? He had no idea what happened to those three, but he hoped that they were alright. Before he could dwell on this thought any longer, an odd smell drifted into his nostrils.

The scent of burning wood made him think of two possible scenarios, either someone had finished cooking some barbeque, or the Warners returned and were trying to give him another hot foot. He bent down to see his foot wasn't smoldering as expected. Then he remembered that he had already let the chef go earlier that afternoon. So what else could it have been? A flash of warm air crept up his backside. In a rare instance, a horrible realization came to him.

_Oh no!_

Within seconds he scrambled up the water tower's ladder. He huffed and puffed after climbing each rung. Finally, after a few minutes, he reached the top. What laid before him was unthinkable. To the far left of him, pillows of black smoke rose higher and higher into the night sky. Rooftops blazed bright yellow before disintegrating into glowing embers. Down below, several employees could be seen fleeing from the scene. Without hesitation, he pulled out his cell phone to dial 911. It was the last thing the studio needed right now, a fire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all liked this one. It was really challenging since this was my first time working with some of these characters. The next chapter will feature a little more action, so stay tuned for more coming soon!


	3. A Case Reopened, A Gang Reunited

 

_… Firefighters have finally gotten the fire under control at Warner Bros. Studios. Luckily, it was reported that no one was seriously hurt. We have tried to contact the C.E.O for…_

_… In other news; police and ACME Labs officials are still on the lookout for two lab mice Pinky and the Brain…"_

_Plotz has announced that Warner Bros. will be temporarily closed until further notice..._

_...Foul is the perfect word to describe the studio's new movie Fowl Play, one of the worst movies of the year..._

_… With the failure of the studio's movie, many are now considering the possibility that Warner Bros. Studios is on the verge of bankruptcy…_

A few weeks later. April 15th 10:12 AM

_Why did my alarm clock have to stop working today?!_

This was just perfect. The first day he was allowed to come back on studio grounds, and he was 12 minutes late. Scratchensniff, duffle bag in hand, huffed and puffed as he sprinted towards Mr. Plotz's office building. Plotz couldn't have picked a better time to have a meeting. What was it for? He'd have to hope Plotz wouldn't be too angry at him to find out.

Within a few moments, he burst through the door to Plotz's office. The room was packed. Outside from the obvious absences, pretty much all of the cast members were here. He darted his head to either side of the room. Plotz wasn't present. Although he looked to be in the clear, he had to be sure. He searched for Nurse to fill him in on what he might have missed. Along the way, he gave quick greetings to the other cast members.

"Hi, Mr psychiatrist! Said Mindy. Her companion Buttons, simply barked.

"Nice seeing ya again" Rita greeted.

"Hi, definitely hi!" Runt barked.

So much had changed since the show ended, Scratchensniff thought. Minerva had her own line of perfume. Mindy was about to finish elementary school. Buttons managed to sue her negligent parents and became her legal guardian. Scratchensniff was still puzzled how he was able to pull that off. Rita and Runt were now famous Broadway stars. He liked that despite their new popularity, they remained humble...Now if only he could say the same for the Hip Hippos. Ever since they stared in one of the Warner's movie " Le Kopera" a rock opera, not only did their popularity grow, but so did their egos.

"Nurse, there you are!" He finally spotted her on the far side of the room. She was tending to Squit who looked like a mummified pear underneath the wraps. Next to him was Bobby taunting a ticked off Pesto who had his beak wrapped up. When she saw him, her face brightened up.

"Doctor, I was starting to wonder if you were going to show up" she responded.

"Please don't tell me, I missed ze meeting" he fretted anxiously. She shook her head.

"Far from it, Plotz hasn't even come in yet"

"Really, he hasn't?"

"Ah you know how Plotz is, always putting stuff off for the dramatics." Slappy Squirrel spoke up. She casually rested an arm on Plotz's desk. "All I know is he better get here soon, I got to drop Skippy at school and a bridge game at 11."

Skippy, who was well into middle school was sitting on top of Plotz's desk, completely invested in a handheld video game.

"Ah, It's you, haven't seen _you_ in a while" A male European voice answered to someone behind him. Scratchensniff knew who it was. He turned around to see the Hip Hippos, Flavio and Maria towering over someone in the doorway. It was Ralph looking up at them with an annoyed scowl. Had they not said anything, Scratchensniff would have ignored him completely. "So, where have you been, pigging out at the café?" Flavio tauntingly asked him.

"That explains why it took him so long to notice the fire" Maria added.

"Uh, but, but yous is fatter than me" Ralph uttered what Scratchensniff thought was supposed to be a comeback. Flavio bumped his blue gut in front of the guard's face.

"We're not fat," he replied coldly. "For hippos, we're big enough for our size. What's your excuse?" Maria gently rubbed her husband's chin.

"Come, darling, he bothers me" she replied. The hippos walked off hand in hand, leaving Ralph alone at the door.

"Vhy hello Flavio and Maria..." they passed by Scratchy without a passing glance. Nurse sent a disapproving stare in their direction.

"Hmph. They star in _one_ movie and they act like their royalty" she scoffed. The two of them stared back at Ralph who had slovenly leaned against the wall. "God, he looks terrible"

"Really? I couldn't tell" Slappy spoke dismissively. Scratchensniff quickly took notice and nodded in agreement. She was right. Never known for being clean cut, Ralph's unshaven facial hair had darkened a few shades. His blue suit was slightly wrinkled and his tie wasn't properly straightened. While Ralph wasn't exactly a neat person, this seemed really odd. He felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Doctor, may I suggest something?" Nurse asked. It wasn't often she did this, but Scratchensniff was always willing to allow it.

"Vhy yes" he answered gratefully.

"Doctor. You're good with people, why don't you try talking to him?" she asked. Scratchensniff briefly blinked in hesitation.

While he appreciated the compliment, he didn't find it all too true. He did not want to deal with him, Ralph never been very approachable to begin with. Knowing him, Scratchensniff was not surprised to know it took Ralph a long time to respond to the fire. Despite his years of psychiatric study, he had enough common sense to know that Ralph was just a simple dunderhead. But still...

He paused briefly before he gave his answer."Vell..."

As if on cue, the door opened. Everyone went silent as Plotz and his secretary Corden came through the doorway. Skippy hopped off his desk just before Corden placed a few files on top of it. Plotz made his way towards his office's large window, his signature scowl on his face. For several seconds he stared out at the view in front of him. Outside was a scenic view of several burnt out studio buildings. The Warners water tower stood proudly amidst the ruins.

Scratchensniff knew his office was among the charred remains outside the window. All he had left was in his duffle bag, a few files, a framed picture of the Warners, and Mr. Puppethead. He was grateful to have thought about packing these things before he left earlier that day. Plotz clearing his throat regained his attention.

"Everyone, I've gathered you all here for an important situation." the CEO stated formally. "Our studio is in a financial crisis, two more of our best stars have gone missing. On top of this fire, the media already on us as is" He rubbed the bags underneath his eyes. "If we don't do something soon. Well, we'll all be out of a job."

Scratchensniff along with the rest of the cast members gasped in horror. The idea that Warner Bros would close was unthinkable. It wasn't just a place to work, it was also a home. Most of the cast still lived on and around studio grounds. To make matters worse, it was already hard for toons to find work nowadays, it would be even harder if they came from a studio that's no longer in business. Studio association mattered when it came to toons. If you didn't have an active studio in your background, your chances of getting a job were about easy as performing rocket science.

"So under the suggestion of a few board members..." He gave a wary look at his secretary. "I've taken the liberty in hiring a few private detectives to help figure things out".

A human toon proudly barged into the room carrying a briefcase in his left hand. He had fat and stocky build that almost rivaled Ralph's, and a thick brown mustache to match his thick brown hair. Scratchy was slightly taken aback at his casual appearance; dark gray pants and a vest, a sand-colored shirt, and an unstraightened red tie.

 _Maybe he's one of those undercover detectives_. The man set his briefcase on the desk.

"Good morning, sir" he greeted in a rough voice. "And I'd like to say its honor to be invited in your..."

"Save the small talk, introduce yourself" Plotz snapped impatiently. The portly toon blinked for a moment before clearing his throat.

" Well um, alright. My name is Lucky Piquel..."

"Pickle?" Mindy giggled in the background along with a few others. Scratchensniff could tell from the man's irritated sigh that this wasn't first time someone called him by that name.

"It's _Piquel,_ Police officer and detective of the Los Angeles Toon Divison." he set the briefcase up on its side. Scratchensniff had never met this person, but yet he seemed very familiar. Maybe it was someone who he was with...

_Oh-no..._

"And this is…" He gulped as if he were about to regret his introduction. As he gingerly opened the briefcase, a spotted orange ball blasted out and bounced all over the room. It zipped past Ralph's head, knocking his cap off, before planting itself on the desk. It turned into an orange bobcat with black spots and blue police uniform.

"Hiya ho there! It's…Bonkers!" the toon chirped in a peppy voice. The crowd's reaction was spontaneous.

"Attack!" Skippy cried out. In an instant, the cast members hurled a volley of rotten fruit and vegetables at the two detectives. Both Scratchensniff and Nurse dodged out of the way just as a watermelon zipped by them and exploded at Plotz's feet. His secretary was not spared.

"What is wrong with you?! Stop! Stop it!" Plotz yelled. The cast members froze in place, some of their food suspended in mid-air.

Tough crowd" Lucky grumbled as he stepped over the pile of food at his feet.

"Hey, your wife says we needed to start eating more greens" Bonkers replied as he nonchalantly bit out of a head of lettuce.

"Sorry about that. The cast members can get a little…ecstatic" Plotz apologized, trying to hide his irritation.

"Geez if they got static then you might need to adjust your TV antenna" Bonkers retorted.

"No, they, nevermind" Plotz sputtered.

Bonkers was never very popular among the studio. Scratchensniff didn't know why exactly, he just wasn't. He briefly recollected how the show would occasionally rip on him every now and then, and was always perplexed on why the Warners didn't' like him either. He seemed just as zany and destructive as them. So he thought.

Bonkers came forward and vigorously shook Mr. Plotz's hand. Plotz's yelped as his entire body violently wobbled.

"I gotta say, its an honor to meet you. So you're the top dog, the fat cat, the big kahuna, the really big guy, The tall tree in the…!" the bobcat chattered rapidly.

"I think he gets the point Bonkers" Lucky cut in.

"Oops, sorry. Honest mistake" Bonkers apologized.

"Think nothing of it" Plotz staggered dizzily. The bobcat stood on top of his head as if it were a podium.

"But, still we're happy to be here, well do everything we can to bring justice for distressed toons. We don't judge, we don't care if your Disney, MGM, or...!" Bonkers continued to gush more excessive chatter for the next several seconds.

Scratchensniff harshly rubbed his head, he was starting to see why the Warners didn't care for him that much. Several of the cast members were groaning or covering their ears.

" _Mama tu fagila!_ This guys like Tigger on helium over here!" Bobby complained in the commotion.

"Is he always like this?" Scratchy asked Lucky.

"You don't know the half of it. But, you get used to it after a while." the cop muttered.

"Really?" Scratchy asked.

"Nope."

"...As a fellow toon, its such a tragedy that such a group of talented and unlucky guys have to be ambushed in their prime" Bonkers swooned melodramatically.

"Oh geez…" Lucky sighed, rubbing the brim of his nose.

" A travesty it is! It used to be safe back when I was once a toon star. It's just so terrible when a toon can't even walk on the same street anymore !" Bonkers leaned against Plotz's shoulder and burst into a fountain of tears, much to Plotz's discomfort. Lucky rolled his eyes.

"Cut it with the hysterics, we've got a job to do" the cop flicked his partner's long ears. Bonkers excitedly perked up as if nothing happened.

"Right, back to business" He chirped happily. Plotz lightly patted his soaked suit jacket.

"Can we get back to the situation at hand?" he asked, finally having enough of this.

"What hand? I thought this at Warner Bros!" Bonkers asked quizzically.

"It is!" Plotz responded angrily.

"So which hand? My hands?" Bonkers held up his own gloved hands.

"No!"

"Your hands?"

"Yes, I mean no!" Plotz's face flushed a bright shade of crimson.

"These hands?" Bonkers raised up one of Runt's paws.

"Those are paws!" Out of nowhere, Ralph raised his own hand.

"Is it my hand?" he cut in. Plotz clenched his fists together as his face went purple.

"No! Just tell us what the hell's going on!" he shouted. The bobcat instantly shut up and jumped back a bit. Scratchensniff groaned, these guys were off to a bad start.

"Handled that like a charm" Lucky muttered dryly.

"Alright, alright no need to impersonate a tea kettle," said Bonkers. "We're here to reopen a closed case. We believe that the Warner's are not dead." The crowd went silent.

"If this is your idea of a joke we ain't laughing; but after seeing your show we probably couldn't tell the difference." Slappy spat critically. Plotz stormed in front of Bonkers.

"Why you are bringing those guys up?! I hired you to figure out what happened with the fire...!" Bonkers shushed him.

"Be patient well get to that. We will, we will" He leaned in closer, "Personally, we think they're connected".

"How are you sure?" Plotz asked.

"I've got a hunch, and luckily it's not the kind on my back either" Bonkers responded. " You see, we..." A bulky hand covered his mouth.

"Let me handle this..." Lucky grumbled before speaking aloud to the crowd. "Alright, so the Warners disappeared last year in the middle of the night on April 1..." he began to explain.

"Tell us something we don't know!" Rita exclaimed.

"At first it was said that the plane simply did a magic trick and vamoosed from sight. The plane has remained missing since then." A small smirk came across his face "But a couple pics from a remote part of Yosemite National Park, proved otherwise. Bonkers slide."

Bonkers took off his blue cap and dumped several items onto the floor; dice, a raft, magazines, and several balloons. He picked up a gray balloon and blew into it. It expanded until it morphed into an actual slide projector. Plotz dimmed the lights just as Bonkers turned it on. The slide's image was projected on a wall.

"Skippy close your eyes, this might get graphic" Slappy advised. Her nephew scoffed.

"Aw Slappy, I'm a man, I can handle it" Skippy replied.

The first shot was exactly what Scratchensniff feared, a plane crash. It was the crumpled up remains of a small white jet the Warners flew on. The mangled heaps of metal nearly made him sick to his stomach. The front end was partially submerged in a nearby lake. Both wings were ripped clean off. The whole thing had slowly been overtaken by several bushes and small trees.

"These were taken by us just a few days ago. We finally got a chance to look at wreckage; at first, we figured it was a straightforward case. Hijacker lost control of the plane and crashed into woods, that kind of deal. But then we noticed a few details. Bonkers, slide." The next slide featured the damaged remains of the cockpit. Amidst the torn metal and foliage, in the middle were three red seats.

"Look at these seats, they aren't even buckled up. Normally, passengers have to remain seated when preparing for a crash landing. Our guess is that the Warner had no intention on doing so". He pointed to the plane's hull. It was peppered with several dents.

"There seem to be signs of a struggle, Look at the side of the hull, these dents look _far_ too small to caused by the main impact." He pointed to a dent that appeared to be fist imprint.

"Someone had to have a pretty _strong_ left hook to make one of those dents." Bonkers commented briefly. His partner then pointed a small circular dent. "... And a mean swing to make the other ones."

_Just like Wakko's mallet_

"But as for remains, All we found were footprints..." Lucky continued. The next slide nearly made Scratchensniff tear up, It was a close-up shot of the cockpit floor. To the far right was a faint boot print. To the left was another one that was unmistakably clear. It was tiny three-toed footprint, with two smaller spots inside it.

_Just like the one Dot has…_

"...And these three things". On the screen were three items lined up on a table, a size 11 black and white bowling shoe, a brass knuckle, and a scorched wooden paddle that was missing its ball.

 _Just like the one Yakko had..._ This one definitely made him tear up. Nurse handed him a tissue to wipe his eyes. This was too much. Scratchensniff was begging to see something different then what he saw now. His eyes dried instantly at the next slide.

It was Lucky in nothing but boxer shorts and bunny slippers. Scratchensniff shuddered as a wave of shouts and laughter erupted.

_Maybe I should have been more specific._

Skippy screamed in horror as he huddled behind her aunts back.

"Told ya."Slappy commented.

A red-faced Lucky jumped in front of the projected slide. "Bonkers! Slide, Slide! Slide!"

"He he! Sorry, must have slipped in" Bonkers chuckled before switching back to the previous slide. Lucky cleared his throat to regain his composure.

"As grizzly as this scene, is ..." Another slide featured Lucky being chased by a grizzly bear.

"Pun intended" Bonkers cut in, receiving another glare from Lucky before he continued.

"There's something also missing, parachutes." The next slide showed an open metal hatch near the door where the parachutes would have been. "And yet there is a there is a trail of boot prints that led from here and right out the emergency door".

"But this doesn't prove that they are still alive!" Plots blurted aloud. "They could have landed in the woods and starved to death." Scratchsniff almost scoffed at the idea, Wakko would've eaten the whole forest before starvation would come into play.

"Not exactly" Lucky interjected. "Bonkers slide" The next slide was a ranger station's cabin at the park. "We got a chance to talk to one of the rangers at Yellowstone. Apparently, about the same time the crash occurred, an incident was reported when one of his squad cars got stolen by two unidentified men, just 100 miles away" Bonkers turned off the projector and appeared right beside Lucky.

"Don't you guys get it, the Warners were never in the plane when it crashed. Something or somebody forced them to jump ship." Bonkers said as a matter of fact. "The Warners, have been kidnapped." Everyone gasped.

"…And we think your missing mice had something to do with it." Lucky finished his statement. The cast members didn't take this well as the volley of fruit resumed. Plotz jumped into the line of fire again.

"Stop!" he screamed. The cast members did as they were told and stopped. "Thank you-" A stray tomato splattered against his cheek. Plotz angrily beamed an eye at the crowd.

"Oops, Sorry, My arthritis is acting up," Slappy answered. Lucky wiped a splattered egg off his head.

"Look, we're not saying they did it, but the evidence that's available doesn't seem to work in their favor. Come on, don't tell me you think this isn't odd. Three big stars disappear, and the only other two people who probably might know what happened also disappear? And right before the fire too? Unless we can find new evidence to disprove it, it doesn't look good for them." Lucky sighed. Several of the cast members murmured among themselves about the grim possibility that the two mice were criminals.

"Which is why we're here today!" Bonkers added cheerfully. " If we find the Warners...well find the mice!"

Scratchensniff was in a sublime state of shock. He was overjoyed at the possibility that the Warners were still out there, but at the same time horrified that someone else had them. This raised many serious questions. _Where are now? Are they hurt? Who or what has them?! And were Pinky and the Brain really responsible for this?_ No, he knew them better than that.

"For this investigation, I'll need a few _special_ acquaintances, to assist me in this search party. So let's play a little game. Simon says raise your hands if you regularly saw the Warners at least once a month!" everyone did as Bonkers said and raised their hands. "Simon says keep your hands up if you've seen them every week!" a few hands went back down. "Simon says keep your hands up if you've seen them every day!" at this point the only people with their hands raised were Scratchensniff, Nurse, Ralph, and Plotz.

"What's the point of this?" Plotz grumbled as he put his hand down. Bonkers pointed an accusatory finger at him.

"Ah, I didn't say Simon says! I need people who been with them the longest. Who better to find these guys, than the guys who knew them best?" Out of nowhere, a single spotlight shone down on him. "Ladies and Gentlemen, you guys are candidates for our next search party! All you need is approval from my big pal here!" He playfully pounded at Lucky's big gut, who did not look the least bit happy.

"Come on, Bonkers this is ridiculous… You can't honestly expect these guys would willingly take out time to go on a time-consuming invest-"

I vill go" Scratchensniff spoke without hesitation. All eyes turned towards him. While he never considered himself to be an opportunist, this was a golden exception he wasn't willing to pass up. Plotz eyes widened at his sudden response. Bonkers jumped for joy, confetti and streamers spurt from his uniform.

"Welcome aboard sir, the 1st to volunteer!"

"Scratchensniff, you can't be serious" Plotz exclaimed. Scratchensniff turned to him.

"But sir, you've said time und time again that ze Varners are my responsibility, it's only fitting that I should go" he countered. Plotz's frown of uncertainty remained in place.

"Well, I guess if you put that way..."

"Of course its alright!" Bonkers interjected before he planted a kiss on Scratchy's bald head. He grimaced, it didn't feel the same. "And, besides he looks like a nice well tempered, fun guy!" he added just before rummaging through his duffle bag.

So what was your relationship with the Warners?" Lucky asked quizzically.

"I was their psychiatrist, my job was to control their zany attitudes"

"Did you do it?"

"Eh..." His train of thought was interrupted by Bonkers taking the puppet out his bag.

"Say whose this, Senor Puppetman?" the psychiatrist snatched it from his hands.

"His name is Mr. Puppethead!" Scratchensniff screeched defensively. The two detectives stared at him as if he was crazy.

"Well, that answers my question" Lucky spoke under breath. Nurse stood up and rushed towards his side, no doubt sensing he was making a terrible first impression.

"I'm coming too, I'm his personal assistant. Mr. Piquel, Scratchensniff has over several years in dealing with the Warners, if anybody knows who might have taken them, he's the expert"

"Sorry misses…" Lucky interrupted.

"Nurse"

"Right, But this type work is only for seasoned professionals like ourselves" He looked behind him to see Bonkers doing a handstand. "We wouldn't want you to worry-m

"Oh I suppose I'll fit in just fine, besides it might get dangerous, who will you turn to for immediate medical attention?" she replied, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Someone might whack you and you end up with a concussion"

"Uh.." he stammered.

"You could get into a scuffle and receive many cuts, bruises, and broken bones" she gently pricked at his arm.

"Well um.."

"There may not always be a hospital to vouch for that. But of course, that's just an assumption." she shrugged.

"Shes got you there big boy," said Bonkers.

"Alright fine, both of you can come" Lucky answered. A bright smile appeared on both her and Scratchensniff's face. He was always amazed at how persuasive she could be.

"Wait!" Ralph panted as he eagerly stepped forward. His goofy demeanor seemed to return for a brief moment. "Duh, can I comes too?

"He just said you were a candidate" Lucky answered.

"What types of candy am I?" Ralph scratched his head. Plotz buried his face into his hands.

"Really, Ralph you don't have to do this…" Plotz pleaded desperately "Really!"

"I used to chase da Warners every time they gots out the tower. I still even have postcards from them." Ralph proposed, trying his best to sound literate. "I'm big and strong, I could be your, your..."

"...Bodyguard!, you could watch out for any bad guys that might try to kill us" Bonkers responded inappropriately cheerily.

"Excuse me?" Scratchy asked nervously.

"Just kidding, I doubt it's going to be that dangerous." Bonkers dismissed. Red hearts appeared in his eyes as he looked up at the nurse curvaceous body " Still I don't mind the nurse staying around" he swooned.

Nurse pointed at her own eyes "These are up here, thank you"

Ralph stood between her and Scratchensniff and proudly puffed his chest up. "Don't worry guys I won't let anybody get you twos. If I see trouble I'll be looking out for, for…"

"…the nearest donut shop." Flavio finished derisively, creating a few chuckles from the others. .Ralph's face nearly flushed bright red as his chest deflated. Lucky rested a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, I was a security guy myself starting out, guys like you are always welcome" Lucky complimented.

"You's mean its?" Ralph gasped.

" Why not, we got already enough interesting people on b-"

"Ah, Thanks!" Ralph graciously embraced him in a constricting hug.

"Your welcome, now let go of me." the cop strained breathlessly. Ralph let go before he choked him.

"You better count me in too" Plotz came forward.

"You're actually coming with us too?" Scratchensniff asked. He was surprised at how willing he was to go along with this.

"Of course I am, this is the future of Warner Bros. we're talking here!"

Bonkers planted a wet kiss on the CEO's head. "Yes! It's so noble that a noble guy like yourself is willing to risk your life for three defenseless toons" Plotz squeezed his mouth shut, hoping to prevent another melodramatic speech.

"Of course, I 've known those three pests- I mean kids for almost all of my life. I'm right behind this all the way" Plots stated proudly.

"Well, that's everyone!" Bonkers exclaimed.

Plotz turned to the cast members before him." Now I want all the rest of you to go home and sit tight"

"We don't want any more of you getting caught up in this," Corden added, who remained silent up until now. "If we're dealing with a serial kidnapping here, whats stopping anyone else from becoming a target?" Despite various protests, everyone eventually complied.

"Well, you're lucky I got still got a nephew to care for. Or else I'd really raise hell about this." Slappy complained.

Mr. Plotz decided to end the meeting "Well what are you waiting for, go! All of you! Get out of here!" he pointed towards the door. In no time at all, everyone cleared out of the office except for Corden, the detectives, and the four new search party members. It was here when the feeling of excitement wore off, Scratchensniff froze for a brief moment. Then he slapped the side of his head in a frustrating realization.

_What did I get myself into? I have no idea how to solve mysteries._

XXXX

Plotz wasn't surprised at the number of skeptic frowns and mutterings he caught while the others peeled out the door. It had only been a few minutes and already this plan wasn't looking good. Right across from him, Scratchensniff, Nurse, and Ralph were patiently awaiting his response.

The four of them stood in awkward silence for a few moments. It had years since they had gotten together for anything. The last time they did that was when they figured out a plan to keep the Warners from starting an all-out prank war with the cast members from Jackass. The only difference between now and then was back then, they actually knew what to do.

Ralph finally broke the silence, "Duh, that was a pretty good speech boss."

"Thank you, which is why I would like to ask… where do we start?!" Plotz yelled. Bonkers appeared from underneath his coat jacket, making him jump. He was really starting to hate this guy.

"Where else? The scene of the crime!" He blew into a bugle he'd taken from his uniform. "Onward people! To the ACME labs!" the bobcat pointed towards the window's open slides and gleefully jumped out of it.

"There was a door to this office, why didn't you use it?!" Lucky called out after him. He cursed under his breath and he jogged out of his office. Scratchensniff, Ralph, and Nurse quickly followed after him. Now Corden and the CEO stood alone in the room. If this was Corden's idea of a rut, then the Grand Canyon was a ditch.

"Gah, that stupid bobcat! Volunteers indeed!" Plotz furiously pounded a fist his desk. If he still had plenty of hair on his head, he would have gladly ripped it all out.

"Plotz, what's the problem? You wanted to do this case right?" Corden asked.

"Of course not Corden!, I only joined because those three loonies will mess everything up!" He assumed the detectives would just solve one case on their own and that would be it. Reopening an expensive case, and bringing along a volunteer search party was the last thing he had in mind. Unlike Scratchensniff, Plotz thought Bonkers was way off in his decision of picking them. These guys were just employees, not detectives. They would be little to no help in his eyes.

"I don't know, are you sure that's " Plotz poked a finger at his long nose.

" If I remember, _you_ suggested this idea. " he snapped critically. "Be grateful I'm willing to go through with it, I'm just pitching in to make sure this doesn't backfire"

"Oh, I see where you're getting at. It's like you're a supervisor" Corden's face brightened. Plotz smiled, finally, he was starting to see it his way "Say, Why not take a couple days off while you're at it? You have been overworked" As tempting as it sounded, Plotz couldn't afford to that

"Nonsense, I should only be gone for a day or two, In the meantime, you're in charge! You can handle that can you?" Corden's eyes widened at his offer. Plotz trusted him enough, he figured that he couldn't do much damage in that amount of time.

"Oh, of course, sir!" the secretary eagerly replied. " But wait, what about Globwobber? We still have the issue with that loan to deal with." Plotz paused for a moment, he had forgotten about that.

"Set me one up for me later on this week. Corden, I oughta give you a reward for your tactful thinking"

"Like a raise perhaps?" Corden asked hopefully.

"Don't push your luck!"Plotz scoffed. Heading for the door, he barely noticed Corden's satisfied grin when he plopped himself behind his desk. As he slammed the door, he turned around to see a pair of green eyes right in his face.

"Oh, Slappy! What are you still doing here?" Plotz jumped, slightly taken aback.

"Forgot my purse" she replied stone-faced. So, everything good?

"Oh sure, sure". Plotz dismissively answered. She said nothing as she went inside to get her purse and came back out. He really hoped that she didn't overhear everything. He felt stupid trying to pretend, despite her old age, Slappy was still sharp as a tack. And the old squirrel would no doubt blab to the cast if she knew what he just said.

"I've only got one question..." she asked sternly. Plotz muscled tensed. "Why Bonkers? Of all the guys to get, why him? Why not Dick Tracy? That masked duck guy whatever his name is, or even those hippie kids with the dumb dog?"

"They were either unavailable or refused to work for cheap," Plotz answered, slightly relieved. She still continued to stare at him.

"You don't fool me for a moment Plotz, but I'll let you go on this one." She turned her back and disappeared down the hallway. He wasn't entirely convinced that she didn't know, but he would have to worry about that later. The others were probably halfway to the labs right now. He quickly hurried after them. Along the way, he only had one thought on his mind.

_I'm going to save this studio at any cost. And as long as the others stay out of my way, I can do that._


	4. First Stop ACME Labs

12:00 PM

Plotz's chest was on fire as he hurried to catch up with the rest of the group. Every other minute he had to keep stopping to catch his breath. Running in a suit on a hot and humid day was not a good idea. He silently cursed to himself.

Anyone can tell these stubby legs weren't made for running!

If he wasn't going to admit this to the others, he might as well admit it to himself. He did not want any part of this investigation. But then again, as much as he hated it, he felt he was the only one who had any experience in dealing with these investigations. He'd call up whatever detective was needed for the job, pay them up front, answer any questions on behalf of the entire studio, let them do their job, the mystery gets solved, everyone's happy. The unorthodox idea of bringing employees along put a big crick in this simple enough routine. Finally, he met up with the others just before they passed through a flimsy barrier of yellow caution tape.

Despite the partly cloudy day, he still couldn't help but be haunted at the gloomy sight that surrounded him. The fire had razed at least a third of the studio property. Several buildings with varying amounts of damage laid to either side. Many had missing roofs, others had caved in floors. Smoke damage stained the studio's signature water tower dark gray. Aside from the occasional officer or two, this area along with the rest of the studio was completely vacant. Passing each building, Plotz mentally tallied up the damage costs.

Ohh..! 2 million, 4 million, 6 million..!

Plotz estimated that the extent of the damage would reach at least 10 million dollars. This couldn't have happened at a worse time. There was barely enough money to keep the studio running, no less enough to cover a fire.

He was grateful his father wouldn't be around to see this. Ever since Plotz took over the company, they never saw eye to eye. Plotz always insisted that he would run it far better and efficient than his father ever did. He felt he would be continuing a rich legacy that been going strong for decades. It was over 50 years ago when he thought that, and now his studio was on the verge of folding. So much history was made in these buildings. Big names, memorable movies, and serious gross profit. Now a part of that was probably gone forever. But he had to find out what happened. And whoever did this, was going to pay.

XXXX

At one point, Scratchensniff and the gang passed by what was left of his office building. Although he and Nurse temporarily relocated their work at a nearby hospital, it still didn't feel the same. All of their appointments had to be set up through the hospital's system instead of being done on their own. He prefered having his own space where he could be intimate with his patients.

Boy, Yakko would have a field day with that last statement.

He refused to look at it. Too many memories were made in that building; but the only one he could think of was the one that changed his life forever, the day the Warners escaped. Right now would have been the time for their daily sessions. He remembered how in the beggining he used to dread them. What he wouldn't give to have one right now.

An ominous sight that laid before him interrupted his thoughts. He stopped in his tracks, along with everyone else.

ACME Labs had literally burnt down to the ground. The front end of had completely collapsed in a pile of black rubble. This building was always packed with people, Scratchensniff thought. It was a miracle no one was killed. The group went around to the back of the building where the laboratory once stood. Luckily, most of the loose debris had since been removed last week, making it less hazardous to move around. All that was left were scorched machinery and counters.

"Well, let's get started!" Bonkers broke the silence. With a determined scowl he got down on all fours and sniffed at the charcoal stained ground.

Lucky rolled his eyes and took out a notepad. "So, tell us what you know about these two"

Scratchensniff began to open his mouth when Plotz spoke up. "Well, they were two of our biggest stars, right behind the Warners on the show Animaniacs".

"What did they look like?"

"Both of them were white lab mice; Brain was short and stout with a big head, he was very smart. Pinky was the tall lanky one, he wasn't very bright…"

Plotz continued to give more information about the lab mice, where they lived, their diet, their relationship with Warner Bros studio, how they got their own show, general stuff. He left out two minor things such as the fact they happened to be mad scientists bent on world domination. He must have figured that bit of information wouldn't exactly work in their favor. While Scratchensniff understood, he also found it needlessly paranoid. He glanced at Nurse who simply crossed her arms with a blank expression. Ralph stared at the ground as Bonkers was circling around his feet.

"…In fact, they had the Warner's plane built themselves. Real brilliant those guys are" Plotz finished explaining.

"So, when was the last time you all saw Pinky and the Brain?" Lucky asked.

"About a few weeks ago in my office"

"Dr. Scratchensniff and I saw them in our office about a week before the fire." Nurse spoke up. " They wanted to borrow a couple of pens"

"I-I saws them da day of the fire" Ralph rose his hand. "Theys came in around rights before closing time." The detective's eyebrows rose with interest.

"Did they say anything suspicious?"

"Oh, they said something about uh, taking care some plans at the lab. But Is forget what they were"

"Did you ever see them leave?"

"Well, uh… no." Ralph admitted guiltily. Bonkers ears perked up when he stopped sniffing.

"I don't think he would have been able too, look!" Bonkers sprinted towards a fence hidden far off behind them. In the middle, a section of the fence had been flattened, creating a large enough gap for anything to get through. He pointed at the ground below it. Winding black trails that curled inside, right along the edge of the building's foundation, and right back outside the fence. "Tire tracks! All terrain to be specific!"

"But they don't own a car! I should know because I personally charge everyone for parking" Plotz interjected.

"Looks like they had some unwanted company on the night of the fire." Bonkers suggested.

"Or a getaway vehicle to bail them out" Lucky added.

"Very interesting…" The orange bobcat continued sniffing the ground. " I'm going to get to the bottom of this…!" With a high pitched scream, he disappeared beneath the floor. A loud crash followed afterward. Everyone hurried over to where he fell. On the ground was a large square hole. Inside, a long concrete staircase descended into a pitch black void.

"Bonkers, you alright?" Lucky called out.

"Watch that first step… it's a doozy" Bonkers dizzily echoed in the darkness.

Lucky flicked on a flashlight as he descended down the stairs. "Follow me"

Ralph's knees and arms were shaking. "We's goin down there?" his voice trembled.

"Oh, what's wrong ya big baby?" Plotz replied impatiently.

"But its all dark and scary down there!"

"Fine! Stay out here if you like" Plotz spat as he trudged downstairs.

Scratchensniff shrugged as he and Nurse followed after him. They cautiously moved down the stairs, their hands to the walls for extra support. The walls on either side were damp, blackened, and starting to mold. Scratchensniff couldn't blame Ralph for being a little spooked, this seemed like a scene straight out of the 'Haunted Mansion'. He wondered where did this lead to.

"Be careful, these steps are little slippery…" Lucky warned.

"Yaagh..!" the sound of Ralph's voice hit Scratchensniff just before his massive guild caught up. He along with the others were squished upon impact.

Everyone fell in a rowdy tumble down the stairs before landing with a loud thud. Lucky lost the flashlight, putting them back into the dark. Scratchensniff managed to squeeze his head out from underneath the groaning heap of bodies.

"Didn't anybody listen to me? I said 'watch out for the first step!" an annoyed Bonkers answered in the dark.

"I forgot, sue me," Lucky replied sarcastically. "See if you can find my flashlight"

"But we don't need it, we got lights" Scratchensniff heard the click of a nearby light switch.

Surprisingly, lights actually came on. For a moment Scratchensniff squinted as the first thing he saw was Bonkers orange feet. Then it was Bonkers taking out a classic Polaroid camera and immediately snapping pictures. The next sight was a shocker. This couldn't be real. He almost thought his glasses were broken. The others helped themselves up as they gazed at what laid in front of them.

A secret laboratory. Beakers and machinery lined the medium sized room. Decorated along the walls were blueprints for different projects. Aside from a few singed lab jackets on the floor, and few charred cabinets near the staircase, it looked hardly anything in here had been touched by the fire. In fact, water damage seemed to be a bigger problem as loose drywall and plaster hung from the ceiling and littered the wet floor. Scratchensniff speculated a burst pipe, or water had leaked in from the terrible storm last week.

He couldn't believe it. Brain had invited him to the lab on several occasions, but he didn't recall him ever showing this part of the lab before. Knowing how secretive Brain was, they must have made the entire lab by themselves.

Incredible!" Nurse gazed at a flask of still bubbling purple liquid.

"All of this without outside assistance…" Scratchensniff marveled at a glass display of different rock samples.

"…And without a permit!" Plotz grumbled, scanning the walls for any legal documents. Bonkers hopped on top of a countertop island in the middle of the room.

"Cool, This is some keen gear here!" He playfully juggled 5 plugged corked beakers in his gloved hands.

Lucky snatched them out of his hands. "Careful Bonkers! some of this stuff can be used as-" something made of glass hit the ground. "…evidence."

Ralph beamed a sheepish grin as he placed his blue hat on top of a broken beaker. Lucky shook his head before turning back to the counter. Bonkers had disappeared. Unamused, he crossed his arms.

"Alright Bonkers, where are you?" An enormous eyeball appeared at the other side of the counter. Lucky jumped back with a high pitched yelp, nearly falling on his bottom. It was really Bonkers staring through a large magnifying glass about the same size as his head. Scratchensniff would have chuckled had he not given out a girly shriek of his own. "What are you doing?!"

"What you've always told me, buddy, In order to find the clues, A real detective looks for all the close-up details" he scanned a variety of different items that were strewn on the counter. "It could be anything, like this cup, this big cheese wheel…" he took a whiff. "Mmm… Cheddar! Or these broken pens, or these faint red stains, blood or lasagna perhaps" Bonkers didn't realize he'd gradually moved towards the end of the table and right up Lucky's gut. The cop rubbed at his shirt.

"Congratulations, you found out what I had for lunch today" Lucky replied flatly.

"Excuse me" Nurse spoke up. "Would this be a clue?" She had sauntered off to the corner of the room and gingerly picked up an empty can. While warped and singed from the heat, the label read "Paint thinner, Courtesy of Slim Scrapyard Shop Co."

The magnifying glass shattered on the floor. Lucky and Plotz gasped in response. Scratchensniff shivered at the sight of it. Bonkers jaw dropped just before he ran behind Lucky's legs.

"No, no! Not that stuff!" Bonkers moaned.

"Whats so bad about paint thinner?" Ralph asked. Scratchensniff looked at him as if he were a complete idiot, then he remembered this was Ralph he was talking about here. Bonkers latched on to the guard's shirt, tears streaming from his eyes.

"It's the worstest thing to ever come in contact with a toon, it's a diabolical liquid of disastrous proportions...!" Bonkers blubbered intensely.

"Uhh.." Ralph droned. Scratchensniff rubbed the brim of his nose. Obviously, Bonkers description was too dramatic for him to process.

"Maybe, I can explain it better…" Nurse came forward. "Paint thinner is a very dangerous substance for toons. It can harm a toon a number of ways depending on the exposure. Inhaling can cause breathing problems, hallucinations, and render a toon unconscious. Actual contact could cause discoloration, sluggish movement, and lots of others to count"

"How do you know all that?" Lucky asked, astounded at her explanation.

"I'm a toon nurse, I've dealt with patients that touched the stuff by accident" Scratchenniff was always impressed at how fluent she was with delivering information. It was one of the main reasons he hired her in the first place.

"I thinks I get it…" Ralph scratched his head.

"It makes toons really sick, dummy" Plotz grumbled. The guard's eyes brightened in realization.

"Oh nows I get it"

"Now the big question, why would they have this down here?" Bonkers wondered. For once, he said something that made sense. Scratchensniff knew the mice had worked with all sorts of dangerous chemicals and substances. But this was very odd. Paint thinner wasn't allowed on studio grounds unless a rare exception was approved by Mr. Plotz. So the next question came as no surprise.

"Plotz, when was the last time paint thinner was allowed inside?" Lucky asked.

"Over one year ago. We had a really massive oil paint spill that needed to be cleaned up." Plotz explained.

"Yeah, It was almost as bad den that time Brain made dat giant robot…" Ralph blurted out before Plotz clapped a hand over his mouth.

"Robot? What robot?" the detectives spoke in unison.

"Big toy robot is what I think he means" Plotz hastily cut in. The guard removed his hand.

"But boss, weren't you upset when they accidentally destroyed a studio building with it?" Ralph cut in before his mouth was covered up again.

"What's he talking about?" Lucky asked.

"Pinky and the Brain offered to build a robot dragon for one of the Warners movies a while back, it went haywire and flopped right on top of the set for "The Adventures of Pluto Nash" Nurse explained.

"Eww! I'd say they almost did you a favor" Bonkers cringed. Lucky did not look happy about this.

"Has this kind of stuff happened more than once?" he asked sternly.

Ralph nodded his head. "Ah sure, one times they made a model rocket that almost that destroyed the parking lot, then there was da time they flooded the water tower while the da Warners went on vacation, all part of some big plan to uh take over da-Gggh!" his cheeks bulged from the cheese wheel Plotz rammed in his mouth.

Both Scratchensniff and Nurse facepalmed at what he told them. Of all the things Ralph had to mention, the mice's failed experiments were the last thing they would have picked. The guard had unintentionally made them appear guilty.

"Mr. Plotz, is all of this true?" Lucky asked. Scratchensniff came forward but Plotz held him back. Was anybody going to let him speak for once?

"Yes, but they were all simply accidents. Nothing more, nothing less." Plotz answered calmly with clenched fists. This was good as it was going to get when it came to Plotz keeping his cool. The detective didn't seem to hear him as he currently fixated on the burnt can.

"Wait a minute… Bonkers you still have that picture? "

Of course!" Bonkers responded. He took out a red photo album book and opened it. Right next to a picture of Lucky downing an ice cream sundae was the photo in question. A scorched container recovered from the plane crash. "Same size, same shape, same label… It's the same thing!"

"Everyone! Empty out all the draws and pantries you can find." Lucky commanded.

The others did as told, and within a few minutes, a pile of various items littered the counter, broken pens, a few old papers, and several receipts. Lucky sorted through the items, an excited grin on his face. The first real one he had all day.

"This is perfect, we finally have some light shed on this situation," said Bonkers.

"Gah! I's can't see anyting!" Ralph exclaimed. An empty drawer was stuck on his head. It was broken apart by a swift bonk from Plotz. "Oh nows I see it"

Both detectives pushed the other items aside and busily sorted through the receipts. Lucky arranged the receipts into separate piles while Bonkers somehow managed to hang them up in midair. Out of the 50 receipts they found, at least 30 of them were from the Slim Scrapyard Co alone. Items purchased included; gasoline, masks, old car parts, plane parts, glass panes, engines, and of course paint thinner. Unfortunately, many of these receipts were smudged or badly singed in the fire. Crucial items such as dates, prices, and location were missing. However, about 10 of them retained one interesting feature, the merchant on each of the receipts was of the owner himself.

"Alameda Slim." Lucky said aloud.

"Who's Alameda Slim?" asked Plotz.

"A Disney villain from the movie 'Home on the Range', former cattle rustler turned to business entrepreneur. He's the owner of Slim Scrapyard Co. He's also been arrested for tax evasion and robbery." his expression soured. "Real nice guy"

"And a good yodeler to boot!" Bonkers cut in. "Yodel lah hee…" Lucky clamped his mouth shut. His cheeks bulged for air.

"Quiet! Of course, he has a big store up in Los Angeles, we could drop by and..."

"But Lucky, I thought he went out of business ages ago...!"Bonkers lips strained breathlessly. When Lucky let go, he fluttered around the room like a deflated balloon.

" Oh, that's right. He did. Darkwing Duck busted him for trying to sell stolen merchandise last year. So going out there is out of the question" Lucky responded dejectedly.

"What about here? Look at this!" Nurse said aloud as she picked up a colorful flyer. On it was an unknown rabbit tossing playing cards and poker chips.

"Ms. Nurse this is no time for partying!" Plotz interjected.

"No, look! Local Poker club featuring Poker champion Alameda Slim, March 18. At the Moonrise Comic Strip!" Lucky's eyes widened as he took the flyer from her.

"That's tonight! Bonkers you know what this means?" he said.

"That were totally behind on today's social events?" Bonkers retorted. Lucky shot a glare at him.

"It means we have a new lead now! We can ask this guy a few well-deserved questions" he responded excitedly. Bonkers jumped for joy just as he grabbed the flyer from Lucky and rolled it up.

"Well, what are we waiting for?! Let's go!" His feet disappeared in a locomotive blur. Despite the damp floor, a trail of dust appeared as Bonkers zipped back upstairs. Plotz and Ralph followed after him. Scratchensniff did likewise. When he came back outside, Bonkers was nowhere in sight. Plotz and Ralph, however, were just a few feet away from him.

"Did I do good boss?" Ralph eagerly tapped his boss'es shoulder. Plotz turned around, his intense glare answered his question.

"Oh, sure you did..." his voice dripped with sarcasm. "Maybe later on today you'll tell them they're linked to the Taliban!" he growled before storming off. Ralph's smile guiltily dissipated. He trudged his feet along the ground. Normally Plotz insults would have flown right over his head. This time, however, the harsh words seemed to stick.

Well, you tried to help Ralph. That's all that matters

He remembered Nurse's suggestion to talk to him. As much of a dunderhead Ralph was, he always liked to help any way he could. He followed after him.

"Ralph?" Sratchensniff said. The guard turned around.

"Yeah?"

"Is der something wrong?" Ralph simply looked him before turning his back to him.

"Nos" he replied bluntly.

"I just vanted to know if dere ver problems..."

"What problems? I ain't got nos problems! Duh, what is a problem anyways?" Ralph replied irritably. Scratchensniff noticed the forced stiffness of his tone.

Was Ralph actually playing dumb for once?

"Vell if you ever need help, I'm here to talk..." Ralph whipped his head back. His eyebrows lowered.

"I don't need yours help!" His stern look quickly shut Scratchensniff up as he lumbered away. This was really odd. Ralph never talked to him like that before. Lucky came up behind Scratchensniff a moment later.

"Hey is he alright?" he asked, jutting a thumb at Ralph.

"Oh he's fine" Scratchensniff answered dismissively. As serious as it was, Ralph's issue would have to be saved for later.

"Scratchensniff, you seem to know Pinky and Brain well, what was their relation to the Warners?" Scratchensniff nearly sputtered at his question. After not being able to get a word in edgewise earlier, having the spotlight put on him caught him off guard.

"Oh? Oh, they vere very close friends ja. Those two mice were always supportive of da Warners. No ill vill towards them"

"Uh-huh"

"Vhy do you ask?" Although he already good idea why.

"Gut feeling. Just trying to figure a possible motive on why those mice might have did it."

"If they did it" Scratchensniff corrected. Lucky arched an eyebrow, clearly he didn't appreciate that comment. Scratchensniff was surprised he even said it aloud. "I mean it could be an accident" he added nervously.

"Scratchensniff, look at the evidence. A conveniently hidden secret lab, a history of public endangerment, Possession of an illegal substance. And it's the same kind used on the plane, the one that they built? This is too bad to be a coincidence."

"You sure this isn't a mistake? It could have been a frame job…" Lucky's gut bumped into him, cutting him off.

"Listen, pal, The only mistake making is always assuming that your pals are as innocent as they say they are…."

"But vhat if dey are innocent? Then what?" Scratchensniff countered harshly.

"They might be, they might not. We'll have to keep looking to find out" Lucky sighed as he placed a hand on his shoulder. "Look, I get how you're feeling, but me and my pal have been doing this stuff for a long time and well… We don't expect you to understand this kind of stuff anyway" Scratchensniff couldn't help but be irritated at his comment. He had no idea how he felt...

"Lucky!" a high pitched voice whined. Bonkers ran towards them, frantically rustling the pockets of his uniform. "You've seen my badge?! I can't go around town looking like a lowdown cop impersonator! It would be..!"

"Here" Lucky reached behind the shorter toons shirt collar and pulled it out. The bobcat snatched it from his hands and embraced it in his arms. "If you're ever going to improve as a detective you gotta keep better track of your stuff…" Nurse came forward with his black notepad in her hand.

"Do you need this? You left it in the lab downstairs" said Nurse. Lucky gaped in befuddlement as he cautiously took the pad from her. Clearly, he hadn't realized he'd forgotten it. Bonkers stared up at his senior partner with a sly grin.

"Oh uh, thanks… I'll go, bring out the car" he muttered before trotting off. His cheeks flushed bright pink. Nurse gave a coy smile at Scratchensniff before she walked off herself. Bonkers looked up at him.

"Don't mind Lucky, he's just a little rough around the edges. Like burnt toast. But he'll warm to you in time." He pulled out something from his hammerspace. "Here, this fell out your bag" his voice lowered a few notches. It was the framed picture Scratchensniff kept in his bag. It was slightly cracked.

The picture was him and the Warners huddled together underneath a parachute, thousands of feet above Montego Bay. The Warners had somehow managed to convince him to go skydiving. Despite the fact that he was scared of heights and that they landed in the water, during shark breeding season, it was the first time the Warners talked him into doing something crazy... and he actually enjoyed it.

"Thank you" Scratchensniff replied.

Bonkers put a hand on his chest. He stared up at him with a warm smile "Don't worry.I don't think they did it. I promise, we'll find them, and the Warners too" Scratchensniff didn't know what to say. After all the mindless zaniness from earlier, compassion was the last thing he was expecting to see from him. Then again, he thought the same thing about the Warners. He put the picture back into his bag.

"Oh, and sorry about earlier this morning, you know us toons can't help but make a lasting first impression" A car horn honked. " Oop! There's the car!" his cherry persona returned as he sped off towards an approaching car.

You have a very "interesting" idea of first impressions...

"No, no no!" Plotz's yelling took him out his thoughts. "No way I am getting in that grease bucket on wheels!" Scratchensniff saw why he was upset. In front of him was a grungy looking police cruiser that had obviously seen better days. The car's white paint had faded to a light gray. The red and blue lights on the hood were scuffed and chipped.

"Trust me, sir, it's just for today." Lucky pleaded.

"Especially since I got the seats reupholstered" Bonkers added, patting the backseat. Three loose springs came up instantly.

"We've already got cars, why do we need to ride in yours?" Plotz asked.

"Um, cause you'll be able to save on gas money if you do?" Bonkers gave his best innocent smile.

"Good point..." Plotz pondered for a moment. "But you won't be able to fit all of us inside!"

"No problem!' Bonkers rolled up his sleeves and rubbed at his elbows. Scratchensniff flinched as Bonkers jumped on him in a frantic mess of moving hands. They felt clammy and moist. Bonkers did likewise for the Plotz, Ralph, and Nurse. All four of them had a bright sheen on their bodies.

"What the hell did you do to us?!" Plotz angrily rubbed at his sleeves. Bonkers was out of his uniform and in a typical black chimney sweeper outfit, complete with a long broom in his hand.

"Just added a'little elbow grease" he cheerfully responded in a Cockney accent. He wielded the broom and forcefully pushed all four of them with it in the back seat. Ralph took up the most space, his head bumping against the roof. Scratchensniff's face was squished against the window. He couldn't tell if the arm below him was his own or one of the others. This was just like when the Warners played Twister inside his car. Except no one was trying to win.

"Ow! Ralph get your foot out of my face!" Plotz yelled.

"Whoever's hand is on my chest, can you let go please?" Nurse called out.

" I founds the seatbelt!" said Ralph.

Scratchensniff felt a painful tug on his leg. "Agh! That's me you dummy!"

Bonkers reappeared behind the driver's seat in his regular uniform. "Everyone comfortable?" he asked in his normal voice.

"No!" all four groaned.

"Veeery well then! Off to the Moonrise Comic Strip!" he cheered. Lucky quickly climbed into the seat next to him.

"Bonkers I think you should let me drive...!" he yelled as Bonkers slammed on the gas pedal. The car made a number of wide twists and turns before it peeled out of the studio.

As Scratchensniff's pressed head stared out the window, he tried to summarize everything that happened today. The Warners were still alive, he'd volunteered to become part of an investigation, Pinky and the Brain were suspects, they had a secret lab and paint thinner, he met two bumbling detectives; one who thinks they did it, the other says they didn't; Ralph has some issues, and now he was packed with his co-workers inside a dingy police cruiser, on their way to meet a businessman/criminal for questions. He gulped.

And yet, this is nowhere near as chaotic as a day with the Warners.


	5. Interlude/ A Message From Inside

Somewhere around the same time…

The three siblings hunched down in silence as the door's tiny window darkened from an unknown passerby. They silently waited in the dark. Several seconds passed.

"Is he gone?" Wakko whispered.

"Yep, he's gone" Dot looked out the window.

"Let's move sibs" Yakko said as he plopped into an old chair.

He felt like a broken record. This exchange happened the last time they tried to escape, and one before that, and the one before that. Today was different. Their destination this time was not a way out. It was to an abandoned office room Yakko caught a few glimpses of a while back. After snatching the keys of their watchman, they somehow managed to sneak out of their cell undetected. With the dimly lit hallways looking the same, aside from a rare picture or two, it was hard to keep track of where they were going. Luckily after a few minutes, Yakko spotted it solely from its noticeable landmark, an outdated Coke vending machine.

After the trio went inside and locked the door, they found the item they were looking for, an old computer.

"Hows it looking down there Wakko?" Yakko looked down at Wakko fiddling with wires underneath the desk.

"Almost done… Try it now." his brother replied. Yakko pressed a button on the CPU. A soft whirring sound rose from the monitor. The screen glowed blue.

"Yes!" Yakko cheered quietly. The eldest sibling's face quickly went sour as the computer slowly continued to start up. "Of all the abandoned computers we had to find, we just had to find one that still has Windows 2000" It took a good 20 minutes for the computer to start up, for Yakko to finally log onto the internet, and bring up his email account. Once he clicked on the button for "compose" he started typing.

"Heeeellllooo, Scratchensniff! If your not him, make sure our P-psychiatrist Dr. Scratchensniff gets this letter. This is yours truly, Yakko Warner here." Dot's finger thwacked the back of his head.

"Oh, and Wakko and Dot are here too I guess. You're probably wondering where we are and if we're all right. Well, we can answer the second part as of right now. We're all okay and fine. It takes more than a plane crash to take us down"

He knew this because he had overheard what happened a few weeks ago. None of them could really remember much from that night or anything else after that. Anything before a few weeks ago was surreal mush of dreams and nightmares. The experience was irritating. He hated that he had no idea who were these people that kidnapped them. He was certain this wasn't Orlando, it felt way too cold. Plus, their aching bodies felt like they were pumped full of lead. They always felt sluggish and their red noses were constantly stopped up. If he got out of here, he was heading straight to the Nurse's office back at Warner Bros. He'd finally have a real reason to go.

But uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh… we're sort of being held against our will and have no idea how to get out. We honestly thought we could get out months ago, but our new friends suggested we should stay a little longer. All we can tell you is this. Pinky and the Brain are here with us. We don't know where, but we know they are in just as big trouble as we are. Something big is about to happen here and doesn't sound like a wrap party either. So if you can come find us that would be great.

He continued typing, ignoring the heavy droning in the background, probably from an air conditioner. Just for the heck of it, he also added a few requests.

There are only three things we need, Some snacks for Wakko, he's been so hungry he's starting to eat drywall now. Says it has a nice salty flavor.

"It does!" Wakko insisted.

Dot wants a mirror so she can get a good look at herself. Thinks looking her two handsome brothers is no longer a good substitute. But I digress.

"Handsome is an overstatement" Dot snapped.

And if you can, bring Michael Phiffer

"Yakko! Hurry up!" Dot and Wakko chattered impatiently. He had to finish soon. They knew they probably didn't have much time left.

All jokes aside, Scratchy, if you're reading this, find us. Do everything you can. We don't care if you have to bore someone to death with your lectures in order to do it. We haven't given up on you. Don't you dare give up on us.

Sincerely, Yakko.

P.S Seriously, get Michelle Pfeiffer

"It's done" Yakko stared at the screen. If only his brain wasn't so frazzled, he could have written a much better letter. He typed in the only two emails he knew by heart, and even then he wasn't sure if they were right ones. Even though he knew Scratchensniff barely checked his email, he had to try anyway. This was probably his only chance to reach out to anyone. "Great job sibs, now for our other plans..."

"That's it! I'm proofreading that letter!" Dot ran towards the computer. Her brother blocked her.

"Why do you always get to proofread?" Wakko complained. "I want to do it!"

"Because I have a better vocabulary"

"But I'm straight to the point!"

Yakko ignored their chatter as he moved his mouse to click on 'send'. He rose a finger….

"Yakko!" Dot shrieked. Yakko looked up.

"Wha…?" He saw nothing but a blur of black whooshing upon him. By instinct, he dashed to the floor. A sickening crunch blasted in his eardrums. Sparks and metal pieces stung his face a moment afterward. His heart still beating, he looked up. From the small sliver of light coming from the door's window, he could make out what just happened. A sledgehammer laid down where the computer once stood. The desk it sat upon had been smashed in two. Just above it was a large pair of eyes staring down at him. He hadn't realized his hand was still tightly gripped to the mouse. Yakko knew who it was, the watchman.

"Hey! Haven't seen you in a few days…where ya been?" he responded as cheerfully as he were an old friend.

"None of your business…haven't seen you inside your cell. Where you been?" a deep voice responded. Its breath reeked of fresh paint. Yakko threw up his hands.

"Alright, you caught me! I've been on those dirty websites. I'm just pathetic poon hound. But can you blame me? I haven't seen a woman in who knows how long! So por…"

"Guk!" the pained grunt of his siblings shut him up. They were pinned down on the floor by the watchman's large foot. If only he was feeling well, he'd teach this guy a lesson.

"Let them go" His face hardened.

"Not yet… we need you three again." The figure responded coldly.

"Wait, whose we?" Yakko asked. The watchman said nothing for a moment. Yakko didn't understand how he got in here. This guy was huge, Dot surely would have seen him coming, long before he reached the door. And they locked it. Then he realized the droning sound from earlier had stopped. After putting it all together, he felt like an idiot. He was in here the whole time. He heard a low chuckle.

"You know if you guys were so smart… You would have swiped this instead" the watchman held up a mask and snapped it on. The orange lens seemed to glow in the dark.

With a flick of a wrist, he flipped open the cap of a nearby jug. A foul stinging smell flooded the entire room. Yakko covered his nose and started coughing, the other siblings did the same.

"I'll put it on my checklist…" Yakko dizzily hung his head. He wondered if he even got to press send on his email. Whether he did or not, it no longer mattered. They got caught, and now they had no way to contact anybody. As his thoughts sizzled away, a single thought meandered.

Please Scratchy, find us. Please…

Then he blacked out.


	6. Ditchin' the Detectives/ Small Reunions

5:00 PM

The claustrophobia and numbness in his legs had already settled in. Scratchensniff was very unsure if Bonkers was still going the right way. The growing number of passing trees confirmed they'd left downtown Burbank. He'd lost track at how long he'd been crammed inside this car. It had gotten near pitch black outside, despite the fact that sundown wasn't due for another hour or two.

I was sure daylight savings wasn't due for a few months.

Then slowly, the streets relit with the faint glow from various marquees and signs. It was hard to make out anything else due to the car's grime covered windows. Was this Hollywood? Why was Bonkers taking a detour through here? One thing was certain, he would die if he stayed in this car any longer. He wasn't sure what would happen first, being crushed to death by Ralph's massive guild, unintentionally suffocated in Nurse's breast…

"We've been in this car for hours! Are we there yet?!" or being obliterated by Plotz burning short fuse. His boss hated clowns, riding like one was not something he wanted to experience.

"Bonkers you sure we're going the right way?" Lucky asked. His hands jittered against the car's lumpy upholstery. The bobcat lazily turned the steering wheel with his floppy feet.

"Sure I am Lucky, navigation's my sixth sense! We're almost there!" Bonkers replied. His eye darted back and forth between the front window and a fold-out map on his seat.

Lucky glanced at the map, his eye twitched. "Your sixth sense needs tuning… you're reading the map upside down" Bonkers ears drooped as he flipped the map over.

"Oops, turns out it was just around the corner" he blushed. Then Plotz's faced burned bright red.

"If you don't get me out of this damn car in 5 seconds, I'm gonna…!" Plotz growled just as the car skidded to a stop.

"We're here! Everybody out!" the keys disappeared from his hand.

"Next time, I'm driving" Lucky grumbled, putting the keys in his pants pocket.

Plotz was the first one out. Nurse, then Ralph followed suit. Scratchensniff was last. He nearly kissed the ground as he ungracefully flopped out of the car, dragging his dead leg with both arms. Scratchy realized they were standing in the middle of the street. Bikers and tiny cars slowly trudged around them. He arched his head back, taking everything he saw through his thick lenses.

Scratchensniff had known about this place for years, but he never got around to actually going here. The Warners had mentioned it occasionally from time to time. According to them, this was Burbank's best-kept secret. He was surprised to see hundreds of toons, many he didn't recognize, freely roaming the streets. While it wasn't strange to see toons in Burbank, it was never this much. Loud and bizarre characters, bright lights and colors. It was like Times Square if it was designed by Bob Clampett and Tex Avery. High-rises bent at sharp angles as they rose towards the sky. One orange one down the street went up and bent across the street in an impossible L shape. Then he noticed the sky, wasn't really a sky at all. Squinting his eyes, he could faintly make out the stalactites glowing like brown stars in the darkness above. They were underground. The awestruck turned to nervousness when he realized those could possibly fall down and hit someone. A screech of a microphone interrupted his attention.

"Is this on?" Bonkers tapped a mike in his hand. "Okay! Welcome to our first stop! The Moonrise Comic Strip, home of several shops, diners, and venues, courtesy of us toons…! And a cute little Bugs Bunny Plushie for $12.99…" Lucky snatched the microphone from his hands.

"Focus Bonkers were here on an investigation, not a vacation tour." the big detective grumbled.

"Aww…" Ralph groaned as he hid a camera back in his pocket. Scratchensniff noticed the sign from the lab was rolled up in Bonkers hand.

"May I see that?" Nurse bent down.

"Anything for you." Bonkers swooned. His ears curled into a shape of a heart. She gently took it from him and opened it. She frowned.

"But, I don't understand. There's no specific address here," she uttered. Scratchy, Plotz, and Ralph huddled around her. Why didn't they notice this earlier? She was right, they were in right area Moonrise Comic Strip just as promised, But after that, nothing. No street name, zip code, nothing. And this place was very big.

"But, how will we know where to find him? " Scratchensniff pondered.

"Oh, he could be anywhere in this nutzo town!" Plotz swatted the poster to the ground.

"Aw come on, this place is only 2 miles long…" Bonkers dismissed.

"And two miles high!" The CEO countered, overestimating the height of the rocky ceiling. "I thought you guys knew what you were doing!" Lucky, whose forehead was starting to sweat, began to open his mouth but Bonkers intervened.

"Of course, we know! I know this place like the back of my head…" his head did a complete 180-degree twist to prove his point. " I know for a fact; there are 50 bars in this place, only 30 of them allow poker games, 15 of them allow alcohol, something our guy loves…

"Fast forward to the point Bonkers" Lucky groaned.

"But, there are only two places that hold poker game championships, and that's where we'll find Slim!"

"So which one are we checking out first?" Plotz barked. Scratchensniff could tell by his scowl that he wasn't satisfied with that answer.

"Wait, first things first guys" Lucky came forward. He leaned against the trunk of the car. "We gotta stay together. Pickpockets and small-time criminals run rampant here. You can never have your back turned"

"That's right. If you careful enough you won't get robbed by that masked fox who just swiped Lucky's car keys" Bonkers stated matter of factly.

"Say what?" The portly cop's eyes widened. The car's engine revved to life. He fell over in a gray cloud of exhaust smoke. When everything cleared up, the car was gone and the befuddled cop looked down and saw his pants were gone.

Scratchensniff grimaced at seeing him in his shorts. The slideshow image was bad enough, he didn't a repeat showing.

"What the- aw nuts! Come back with my car you fox!" Lucky huffed as he pursued after his car. Scratchy had to admit, for a big guy, he was pretty fast.

"I'll go get em. You guys stay together" Bonkers stated as he ran off after him. "Stay out of trouble while we're gone!" he chided in a sing-songy voice. He zipped around a corner further up the street.

The rest of the group stood completely speechless. Scratchensniff's mouth opened in astonishment. This was just perfect. The four of them were officially stranded in a strange town, no way to get back, and still unsure of what to do next. Worse, they were never told what club to go to first.

"Did, did we just get ditched?" Nurse asked.

" No, no. Zey are just…taking care of something important really quick." Scratchensniff reassured. " Which is…"

"Which is ditching us!" Plotz added sharply. "Stay out of trouble while we're gone!" he mocked the bobcat's voice. " What does he think we are, children?!" he glanced behind him to see Ralph mistakenly licking a toon shaped as a large lollipop. The guard gave a sheepish grin when the glaring toon walked way.

The CEO muttered to himself as he headed towards a building right in front of them. Rising at least five stories, it was all white except for the black window frames at each floor. Its sleek design reminded Scratchy of those Deco-inspired buildings from those old movies from the 30's. Above the sliding glass door entrance, a red neon sign hung above titled; the "Ink and Paint club"

"Vere are you going?" Scratchensniff asked.

"Since they're gone, I'm taking charge of this search. And I say, I should check out this place first." Plotz replied.

"But, Lucky said we should stay together..."

"By we, he meant you three, this is just for me." Plotz jutted a thumb at himself. "Besides, if this Slim guy is really some big shot; I suspect he'd be in here.

But sir, I don't think…" Scratchensniff clammed up at Plotz's intense scowl. It didn't matter if he thought Plotz's idea wasn't good. Once his boss made up his mind, there were no arguments.

"I didn't ask you to think! I asked you to stay! Don't do any investigating until those guys come back". He peered over Scratchy's shoulder. "That goes double for you too!" Nurse and Ralph said nothing. The guard obediently nodded his head while Nurse crossed her arms. His boss turned back around and headed inside, leaving the three of them remaining.

"So when he said we, he really meant me?" Ralph pondered.

"No, he meant himself" Scratchensniff sighed.

"But isn't me you?"

"No, you is me!

"I is you?"Ralph stared at him as if he was the stupid one. He rubbed the brim of his eyebrows. This was going to be a long wait.

"It's just an expression! He just vants us to stay here till he comes back"

"Then where is she going?" Ralph pointed to a building behind them. Scratchensniff turned around. It was a short brick and redwood made pub. The rustic architecture reminded Scratchensniff of his family gatherings back in Munich. A simple wooden sign hung the above the double doors; it was titled "Schitzelhaus". Inside were two clanking white heels disappearing behind the double doors. He stifled a scream as he held his head.

"Oh no, no no! Come on Ralph, we have to go get...!" He looked behind him. The dimwitted guard wasn't there.

"No, No! Not you too!" He rubbed his eyebrows. Why did it feel like no one was listening to him today? He was alone now. He fretted on what he should do. Stay here like Plotz said, and get possibly get pickpocketed? Go find Nurse? Or go find Ralph? None of these choices seemed good. But he still had to make one.

XXXX

The walk inside the club was promising. After being directed to the elevator by the receptionist, Plotz went up 3 floors. The doors opened in the center of a long white hallway. In front of him was a framed painting of Jessica Rabbit and Roger Rabbit. At the far end, the hallway bent around a corner. An arrow-shaped sign on the wall read " Main Lounge". The other end led out to an open balcony. It was peacefully quiet. Then he heard clattering footsteps coming from a stairway next to him. He was face to face to a belly button poking out between the seams of a blue shirt. He looked up.

"What the…?! Ralph? What are you doing here? I told you guys to stay outside!"

" I knows…" the guard breathed heavily.

"If you knows… then do it!" Plotz pushed him in the gut, his shoes sliding against the velvet carpet. Ralph, however, did not budge.

"But boss... I is your bodyguard, ain't I spose to protect you?" Plotz paused for a moment. After what happened earlier today, the last thing he wanted to do was deal with him. If he was going to find answers, Ralph's sloppy appearance and loose lips wouldn't help him a bit. But still, for tonight he was his bodyguard.

"You know, your right…" he answered softly.

"Den lets go then!" Ralph beamed as he began to jog down the hallway. Plotz grabbed him by the seat of his pants.

"Hold your horses, I can't still can't have you coming inside!" The tubby guard's smile dissipated.

"Why not? Don't we got to 'integrate' for that Slim guy?" Plotz faked a smile as he patted Ralph's shoulder.

"Of course we are, which is why I want you to stand guard out here, while I check this place out."

"Is don't get it." Plotz facepalmed in frustration.

"Just, Give me some space"

"Why?" Plotz paused for a moment. Ralph was usually never this persistent.

" Well, Because... Because if someone is after me, you being right by my side will attract too much attention" It was a dumb excuse, but he knew Ralph was dumb enough to buy it. The bald guard scratched his head.

"Gee I never thought about that."

"So what's new? And if something does happen, you can come running in for the rescue"

"Well, what does you want me to do?"

"Just, Back up a bit" Ralph took a few steps away from him. "Further" A few more steps. "Further" Ralph was halfway down the hallway. "A little more…" Ralph took several more steps, not realizing the balcony was right behind him. He stepped right over the edge.

"How's thiissss….?!" Ralph vanished to the ground below, his blue hat followed a second later.

Perfect!" Plotz clapped his hands together.

Persistent, but pea-brained as usual.

Plotz almost felt bad about doing that, then he remembered Ralph had fallen from the WB tower several times without a scratch. This floor was half the towers height. He was fine.

XXXX

"Pretty birds, pretty birds…" The open balcony of the third floor danced in circles several feet above him. Several yellow Tweety birds fluttered as his vision returned to normal.

"Gee mister, are you okay?" Tweety asked. Ralph nodded. He sat up as the bird flew away. Then he remembered what he was supposed to do.

I gotta watch Plotz!

He wondered how was he going to do that. He'd given him space like he asked. But there was no way he could know if he was okay out here. He had to go back inside. Within moments he was back on his feet and heading inside. Once again he took the stairs, as the reception demanded that he was over the elevator's weight limit. In a few minutes, he was back on the third floor. He sprinted to the entrance of the main lounge. He hoped Plotz hadn't gone inside yet.

"Ulp!"The collar of his shirt tightened as something pulled him back. Two musclebound arms wrapped around his neck in a headlock. Ralph struggled to free himself when he noticed this person's hairy hands, they looked very familiar.

"No one gets in here without an invitation mac!" That voice. He hadn't heard it in a while."Get out here yous…"

"Paul? Is that yous?" Ralph croaked. The bouncer's grip loosened.

"Ralph?" The bouncer let out a hearty laughter as he let go "How are ya, bro!" The two brothers embraced each other in a hug. Paul was what Ralph would have looked like if he was a year older and weighed over a hundred pounds less. The lack of fat in his body was overcompensated by his enormous amount of muscle.

"I didn't know you worked here. This, this is a nice place" said Ralph.

"Nah, this ain't nothing compared to what you do," He playfully pounded his arm."…Mr. movie star." Ralph couldn't help but feel stung from that. Paul, along with the rest of his family had always been proud of his security job at Warner Bros. And now he was going to lose it. He hoped Paul didn't know anything about what was happening with the studio. He would have been crushed. His brother sighed. "Dad would have been proud"

"Oh yeah, he would have..." Ralph's voice lowered a bit. He didn't want to talk about any personal stuff now. He had a job to do.

"So what are you doing out here?" Paul asked. Ralph's face brightened, happy he changed the subject.

"I gotta protect my boss, Mr. Plotz, I is his bodyguard"

"Wait, you mean that short tubby guy who just came in a few minutes ago? How come he didn't have you by his side?"

"Ah, he doesn't want me too close or else I might attract attention. But Is don't get it though, how can I bodyguard somebody, if I can't see nobody?"

His older brother scratched the tiny tuft of black hair on his head. Paul was always the thinker in the family.

"Well… there's always a stakeout"

"But Paul, you knows I ain't good at cooking steaks!"

"No bro, I'm talking bout camouflage, blending in with your surroundings"

Huh?" Ralph still didn't understand.

"It's like a game of hide and seek. Just hide well enough so Plotz can't see you. That way you can keep an eye on him, but he won't keep an eye on you. He gave a sly wink to Ralph. Ralph's eyes brightened before he winked back. This was perfect, why hadn't he thought of this before?

"Oh boy, my very first stakeout!" Ralph giddily jumped in the air. Paul's hairy hand on his shoulder grounded him.

"Wait, Ralph, If you're gonna blend in, You're going to need this." His brother took off his black tuxedo jacket and handed it to him. Ralph slipped it on over his blue shirt. It was a perfect fit.

"'Gee, thanks Paul" Ralph beamed. As much as he liked to help others, being helped himself felt good for a change.

"No prob Ralph, that's what brothers do" he glanced at his wrist. "Wish I could come with, but my shift's over, it's been good seeing you bro." he waved goodbye and disappeared around the hallway.

Ralph stared inside the club from the entrance. Luckily it was dark, hiding was always easier in the dark. All the waiters were penguins in the same black tuxedo he had. He gulped; this would be the first time he did something against Plotz's words. But Ralph desperately wanted to make up after what happened earlier today. The only thing he managed to do was make his boss angry and the two mice prime suspects. It seemed simple; all he had to do was watch Plotz, let him talk to Slim to see if he knows where the Warners are. Then be out of there before Plotz could notice. That wasn't hard, right? With a deep breath, he crouched down and went inside.

XXXX

"Do you happen to know where Slim might be?" Nurse asked someone. The toon in question was a wolf who clearly had too much to drink.

"Sure, I knows, hic, know where he is. He's in my heart, juuust like you…" he flopped to the floor snoring. Nurse shook her head at the display and walked off.

"Maybe I picked the wrong place" she began to wonder as the atmosphere in this crowded pub was making her uncomfortable. The mixture of freshly cooked schnitzel and cigar smoke was creating a very foul combination. Despite the fact that this pub was two wide stories high, with a bar at every wall, there was hardly a place to sit. And she wasn't exactly a fan of the oompah music. It didn't help that hardly anyone she talked to was helpful. They were either too drunk on beer to string together a coherent sentence, or to smitten at her appearance to pay attention to her request.

She hated to leave Scratchensniif and Ralph out in the street, but she felt that waiting for Plotz to tell them what to do would get them nowhere. This mystery was too important to spend around doing nothing. It couldn't hurt to look at who they were going to investigate. All she would do was observe from afar. And making observations was important in solving a mystery. The whole situation had been racking inside her head for the past few hours.

Pinky and the Brain couldn't have done it. It doesn't make sense. They were highly successful working with ACME Labs and were in good friends with the Warners. And now both the Labs and the Warners are gone. So how would this benefit them? What motive would they have to do this? And if they didn't do it, who did? Still, what were they doing with paint thinner? They know how dangerous it is and how Plotz is very anal about letting it on studio grounds. What about those tire tracks? Or those visits with this Alameda Slim?

There were so many questions that needed to be answered…

"Nurse?" a sultry voice asked. She turned around. A white mink with luscious blond hair like hers, wine glass in hand, was sitting down at a table behind her. She still looked exactly the same after all these years.

"Minerva!" Nurse quickly sat down in an empty seat next to her. Normally she wouldn't be this excited to talk to her. They weren't exactly friends, but Minerva was nice enough to talk to. Besides, she was so far from the studio, it was jarring to see a familiar face, especially one she hadn't seen in a while.

"It's so good to see you" Minerva flicked a lock of hair out her face.

"It's good to see you too" Nurse replied. "I didn't see you at the meeting earlier today…" Minerva's expression went unchanged, she waved off her statement with a flick of the wrist.

"Oh, yeah I heard about that. But I had several other things to take of, Tanning, planning vacations…" She took out a tiny red bottle and sprayed a few pink clouds on herself. "Promoting my line of 'Slink Mink…" Nurse coughed as she fanned the scent. It was said that the scent was sweet enough to draw men like ants. She didn't believe it, she thought it was sweet enough to give men cavities.

"Besides I'm sure it wasn't anything important"

Nurse didn't say anything, but she wanted to scoff at her response. The studio was on the verge of collapsing and she was worried about some perfume line. Then again, this was typical of her self-centered attitude. Not wanting to sour the reunion, Nurse changed the subject.

"So what are you doing here?"

"Oh nothing much, just dealing with my latest break up" She replied, not sounding upset at all. Nurse wanted to roll her eyes.

Here we go again

"Who was it this time?"

"Ah, Some big Texan I met last week." Minvera sipped from her glass. "Alameda Slim, although he liked it when I called him Slim Jim" she giggled. A spark went off in the back of Nurse's head. This couldn't have been that easy.

"You have a picture of him?" Nurse asked.

"Sure" She pulled out a cell phone and handed to her. In the picture, Minerva was pressed against Slim's bare chest as he wrapped his arms around her. Nurse almost wanted to gag. As usual, Minerva had terrible tastes in men. Slim was the complete opposite of what his name implied. He was wide with fat beefy muscles. Brown leather gloves fitted each hand. A cowboy hat rested on his fiery red mullet. A handlebar mustache partially hid his crooked teeth. This guy was a rhinestone jacket away from being the classic Texan stereotype. She barely paid any attention to Minvera's complaints about him.

"…He was so obnoxious, I'm glad this relationship only lasted a week…"

"When did you last see him?" The mink arched an eyebrow at her.

"I don't know Nurse, I thought guys like him weren't your type"

"Don't ask. It's real important" said Nurse. Minvera then pulled that signature sly seductive smile that was no doubt intended for any male passerby's who wanted to 'chat'.

"Oh, I see." she winked. "He went upstairs to play with the boys a few minutes ago." She pointed towards a spiraling flight of wooden stairs leading up to a balcony above them. A small crowd had gathered. "Just to let you know, he loves blondes"

"I'll keep that in mind. Thanks" Nurse responded. She tried her best to not cringe in disgust. Ten feet was as far as she wanted to be from him. The mink got up from the table, leaving behind her red bottle.

"Well I better get going, this oompah vibe is really getting on my nerves. I'll send you the pic later on okay?" She strutted away on her long white legs, causing a brief uproar of catcalls and wolf whistles. Nurse rolled her eyes as Minerva beamed from the attention.

Whereas Minvera reveled in the act, Nurse really wasn't into that anymore. Sure she was used to other people ogling her for her body instead of her mind. She, of course, used to love it in the beginning, but it was just too easy. And anything she found easy got old, really fast. She put Minerva's red bottle in her pocket.

Maybe I'll need for something later on, maybe...

She pushed that last though out of her head. Business first. Nurse clambered up the planks of the spiraling stairs. Her muscles tensed as she went up each step. The lights dimmed as she reached the second floor. The first thing she saw was the chattering crowd. She muscled her way through the crowd for a closer look, ignoring a few curses and wolf whistles. She reached a clearing.

Cards and towers of poker chips piled up on a single table. 5 toons sat around it. Two toons she recognized as Walter Wolf and Sylvester, sat the closest near her. Further away were two dog toons she didn't recognize. At the far end of the table was him.

The big musclebound lump that was Slim, was hunched down in a chair that had to be much too small for him. Thankfully he was fully clothed this time. His sparkling orange jacket glittered underneath the low lying lamp. His eyes were glued to a deck of cards in his hands. Although she didn't understand poker, she could see from the sweat beading from the other players, the towers of red chips at his side, and the toothy grin on his face, confirmed that he was winning. He sprang in the air.

"Yodel- hooo…!" the raucous outburst nearly made her jump. Nurse decided to take back her Texan remark. Texans usually didn't yodel. "If that ain't a royal flush, I ain't Alameda Slim!" he slapped down his deck of cards so hard, the table shook. The crowd erupted in a choir of hoots and hollers. Nurse wondered why the mice would want anything to do with someone like him. She was tempted to leave to find the others, they would have been looking for her by now. In the meantime, she kept watching for clues. All she had to do was not bring too much attention to herself.

XXXX

Scratchensniff burst through the double doors, ignoring stares from a few customers. The familiar smells of freshly brewed beer and schnitzel were making him homesick. But the smell of cigar smoke was just making him sick. He had to find her quick. If this place was anything like the pubs in Munich, he knew they could get pretty rough at night.

"Excuse me have you seen a blond voman about this high?"

He went around asking anybody if they saw Nurse anywhere. Most of them replied with varying degrees of politeness, Some were pretty generous.

"I might have seen someone like that near the bar" A female mouse toon responded. Others were not so nice.

"If I did I sure as hell wouldn't let you have her!" A drunk wolf toon scoffed. But none of them proved to be helpful. Then he saw a lady sitting at one of the bars. Her back was to him but he recognized that long mane of blond hair. Ecstatic, He ran over to her.

"Nurse, zere you are! We have to get out of here!"

"Otto?! " the woman grabbed him by the wrist. She turned around and Scratchy froze. Plotz was the last person he would have wanted to run into tonight. This was the last person he wanted to run into ever. She was big and plump, had let her hair grow out, and held a half-eaten turkey leg in her other hand. Painful memories of episode "Drive Insane" came back.

"Frau Hassenfeffer?!"

"So you've come crawling back to me! Oh no! No more hanky panky for you!" she wagged the turkey leg in his face. Scratchensnitff struggled to loosen her grip. Frau was his ex-girlfriend. He'd officially broken up with her after the show ended. If only he could say he did it on a good note. By broken up he really meant the Warners paid her a "special" visit without his consent, which landed her in the hospital for a few days.

"No, No not you! I'm looking for my nurse!"

"What?! That blond hussy?!" Frau gasped. She threw the turkey leg against a wall. Sweat beaded from Scratchy's head. This was not going well.

"You don't understand...!"

"So you send the Warners to bite me and have the nerve to dump me for another person right in my face?! You got some nerve, Otto!"

"No, I didn't…!" he began to protest. Frau's two massive hands grabbed him and lifted him above her head. He squeaked, this was going to hurt, but at least their reunion was brief. Then she chucked him into the air. He shrieked as he sailed like a missile.

XXXX

A scream rang out to her right. Nurse turned towards it and ducked as a lean figure sailed over the balcony guardrails, and right past her head. The figure crashed onto the table, scattering cards and poker chips. The crowd jumped in an uproar of yells and swear. Slim stared down at the mess in astonishment. He flashed his teeth in a fit of rage as he grabbed the guy by his white sweater. His bald head shone underneath the lamp.

Scratchensniiff?! Oh- no…!

"You little cue ball! What's the deal tryin to sabotage my game?!" The burly man yelled.

"Oh Im so sorry, zis was a terrible accident." Scratchensniff apologized.

"Well your about to have another one." Slim clenched a fist. Nurse gasped. The other players wisely cleared away from the table. This was going to get ugly. She'd have to revoke her ten feet distance rule. Then she burst from the crowd.

"No, wait! Stop! He's with me!"


	7. Getting Acquainted/ Slim's Interrogation

"Ouch! Sorry, mam!" Ralph rubbed his head. He'd just abandoned his last hiding spot, a table where a seated couple had sat. He hated to admit, he was definitely no Tom Cruise. Searching for a stakeout spot turned out to be harder than he thought. Although he stayed close to the ground and pressed up against the walls, he left a trail of toppled plants, frames, and a few disgruntled customers in his wake. There was no place he could go without creating suspicion or avoid being seen.

At one point he spotted a serving cart. He swiftly dashed behind it and peered out from one side to look around. So far he hadn't seen Plotz yet.

"When I said on the rocks, I meant ice!" A voice yelled. He whipped his head to the right. Off in a distance was Mr. Plotz berating a penguin waiter that had literally filled his glass with rocks. Ralph grinned to himself.

"Alls I gots to do is stay right here" he muttered quietly. And then another penguin waiter moved the cart. The waiter gave him a perplexed gaze as he wheeled away from his hiding spot. Ralph frantically scrambled to his feet and zipped behind a gray potted palm tree. Beads of sweat trickled down his head as Plotz had yet to look towards his direction. Even Ralph knew this was a terrible hiding place. Something had to be done fast or else Plotz would notice in seconds.

_What to do? What to do?_

Something caught his eye off in a distance. It was a pair of double doors, each with a circular window.

"Bingo"

His eyes zipped back over to Plotz who was busily demanding another waiter. He was the only thing standing in between him and those doors. His heart thumped, this had to be very quick. Ralph pulled a few fronds from the tree and laid them on his head. He looked down at the disguise Paul gave him and hoped Plotz wouldn't see through it. Without a moment's hesitation, Ralph bolted.

"Waiter! Come back here…!" he heard his boss'es angry voice trailing behind him. Ralph refused to look back as he burst through the double doors. He looked around to see where he was. It was the kitchen. The stainless steel countertops glistened in the dim light of the empty room. It was completely empty. Perfect.

He paused for a few seconds before he peered through one of the doors windows. Plotz still looked very irritated, but luckily he wasn't coming to the door. He waved it off just before a black and white toon waitress approached him. Heart still thumping, the guard sighed in relief. He did it. Now all he had to do was sit here, watch, wait, and most importantly stay focused. His eyebrows rose.

"Hey, is that Betty Boop?"

XXXX

" …You sure he's not here?" Mr. Plotz asked the waitress.

"No sir, the only special guest tonight is the big band performing this evening." Betty Boop replied in her signature squeaky voice.

"Do you know where he might be?"

"Sorry, but if we knew, we would have him here." She handed him a glass of water "Would you like anything else, sir?"

"No, thank you" Plotz responded, staring at his glass. Betty gave a small smile before she turned away.

_How on earth does a legend like her wind up in here?_

Plotz groaned as he took a sip. How could Slim not be here? This place wasn't that big. He had asked just about everybody in here, but all the responses were the same.

He'd only been in the Moonrise Comic Strip for just a few minutes and he already hated it. This place was loud, colorful and obnoxious. However, aside from the inconsistent the customer service, the Ink And Paint Club was far more tolerable. The club's color scheme was more subdued and less garish. The sensuous sound of a saxophone oozed from the small band on stage. Other customers quietly conversed with each other. After all of the insanity from earlier today, these brief minutes of solitude were refreshing.

"Plotz? Is that you? "A guttural voice answered.

_So much for solitude_

"Who wants to know?" Plotz grumbled. His sourness dissipated when he looked up. Two new guests he hadn't seen earlier stood before his table. Before him was a human toon that had to be a couple of years younger than him. Short and stout, he was a few inches taller than Plotz. Although he was already balding, he had yet to grow a shred of grey hair in what was left of his brown hair. His blue suit looked like it was custom made to fit his pudgy physic. A shiny gold watch rested on his right arm, something Plotz found a bit too flashy but he wasn't complaining. The CEO had only seen him a few times before, but he instantly knew who it was, James Whitmore Globwobbler, the head of Globwobbler studios.

"J.W Globwobbler, I didn't expect to see you here!" he quickly held out his right hand. J.W. let out a warm grin and shook it. Plotz took this as a good sign. Their last meeting hadn't ended on a good note. The studio head was still pretty miffed at finding out the loan hadn't been fully paid off. Tonight, however, his demeanor was very lax.

"Same here, same here…" he replied. Plotz was not expecting his cheerful response. He shifted in discomfort for a moment. He never handled uninvited company well, especially company that he still owed money to.

"Oh, I hope I'm not holding you up from anything…"

"Oh not at all, in fact…" He looked up at the other guy standing next to him. The second one, also a human toon was a lot younger. He was tall and lanky. His orange hair was bright enough to match his orange suit. He barely paid any attention to Plotz as his eyes were glued to an Ipad. The glow from the device reflected on the man's thick-rimmed glasses. Folders and sheets hung underneath his arm. "Larry, how's my schedule?"

"Not too swamped sir" Larry replied in a bright chirpy voice. "Just a late night meeting with the staff. Why?"

"Pencil us in for one right now" he responded. Then Plotz jumped from his seat.

"Oh no Mr. Globwobbler, I couldn't let you do that! If I'd known that I would have taken time to prepare…" he protested.

"Relax Plotz, were just going to have a little chat" Globwobbler helped himself to a seat across from him. Larry took another one next to him. Then his boss cleared his throat. "Uh, Larry…"

Yes, sir?" the other toon finally looked up.

"When I said pencil us in. I didn't mean all of us" His boss narrowed his eyes at him.

"Sir I don't understand-"Perplexed, the orange haired toon frowned as he tapped his Ipad. After a few seconds, Larry's eyes brightened. "Oh, you mean…"

"Yeah, keep going…" J.W nodded his head.

"Oh, I see you want to be alone. I get it, two company but three's a crowd" Plotz simply rolled his eyes. This guy was dense. Larry's boss, on the other hand, gave him a thumb up.

"Bingo! As a reward, get me a drink if you can..."

"You sure? The service so far has been awful. They'll have you waiting over 30 minutes…"

"So I'll wait. Do it, please."

"Yes sir" he spurted. He quickly trotted off on his spindly legs, leaving his folders behind.

"New secretary" he chuckled. "Little rough around the edges, but he gets the job done.

"If you say so" Plotz scoffed. Secretaries like Larry didn't last long in his office. He was so sick of ones that didn't make eye contact or didn't try to talk back to him. Sure he wouldn't listen to them, but it was the principle damn it. And he couldn't stand how they were able to function all those new-fangled devices like the Ipad, while he still had trouble operating a telephone. J.W. opened a small box.

"Cigar?" he asked. Plotz had long since sworn off smoking, but he figured it would be rude to refuse an offer, especially one made by a person helping keep his studio afloat.

"Sure why not?" he replied. J.W took out a lighter and lit his.

"Besides…" Globwobbler blew a puff; it was a perfect O shaped ring. "Larry's better than nothing, you really can't find good help these days."

"Ain't that the truth" Plotz remarked at how true he thought that statement was. He was starting to like this guy.

The two studio heads continued to chat for a couple more minutes. Plotz's mood relaxed a bit, thankful he hadn't pressed on the subject just yet. This gave him time to think up something to say in case this conversation went that route.

"…Heard you got swamped in another press conference last week" J.W mentioned casually. He tossed him the lighter.

"Don't remind me, if it isn't the Daily News it's the police, and if it isn't them it's the paparazzi! Don't know if I can take another one of these…" Plotz answered. His thumb rolled harshly against the flick the lighter, struggling to ignite it.

"What, No TMZ?" Globwobbler chuckled at his own joke. Plotz didn't see what was so funny, but he chuckled along with him anyways. Globwobbler blew another ring of smoke another and sat in silence for a few seconds. The grin melted away.

"Plotz, all joking aside I don't want you to wear yourself out like this. It's been over what, 60 years? Maybe it's time you considered retirement." The CEO continued flicking the lighter.

"It'll be another 60 before I decide to do that" Plotz spat back. Retirement was something he didn't think of often, despite the fact that he could do it at any chance he wanted to. He honestly didn't see himself doing anything other than being a CEO. The leisurely life of doing nothing but endless yacht rides and golf games really didn't appeal to him. He was a working man through and through. J.W. shrugged.

"Hey if you feel it's unnecessary, I totally understand. By the way, what are you doing here anyway?" the studio head reclined in his chair.

"I'm looking for a guy named Alameda Slim, I think he might have something to do with everything that's been happening at the studio. You seen him?" this bit of news made Globwobber straighten back up in his chair.

"I haven't, but I thought you were done with this investigation"

"I was!"

"And now you're doing it again? Don't you know how risky this is…?" his voice rose a bit.

"This is just a last minute resort" Plotz rubbed his forehead. His thumb was starting to get sore.

_Here it comes…_

"Oh yeah, then what do you plan to do? Start taking more loans, ones you can't pay off?" Plotz nearly winced at how direct he was. "What's next? Lay off what's left of the studio crew? At the rate you guys are going, you'll be bankrupt by Christmas..!."

" I know!" Plotz pounded the table. He hated to be reminded about an ongoing problem he already knew. He looked around. A few other guests stared at him for a moment before resuming with their business. "Why are you reminding me about this?" he lowered his voice.

J.W. leaned in. He took the lighter from Plotz and flicked a single flame. Plotz dangled the tip of his cigar over it.

"Cause I have an idea, Plotz"

"What kind of an idea?" Plotz arched an eyebrow. He finally took a drag of the cigar.

"A temporary partnership"

Plotz keeled over, hacking clouds of smoke out of him. He remembered why he swore off this stuff.

"Sorry I…" he coughed some more. "I didn't catch that"

" Just listen…" Plotz remained silent as he gave his spill for the next few minutes. The basic plan was that the studio would form a partnership. Both studios would regain enough capital and revenue for Plotz to pay off the loan and bring him out of debt. When he finished, J.W. asked him. "So, are you interested?"

"I don't care how good it sounds, I need to see this in paperwork" Plotz shook his head.

"I'm glad you mentioned that" Globwobber smiled. He opened the folder Larry left on the table. "As you can see, I'm running into a bit of trouble myself".

He passed out a variety of different forms, Bar graphs, pie charts, various reports. Plotz muttered as he looked down at them. J.W. had a very funny view of little trouble. All of them, however, told the same story. It turned out in sales, Globwobber Studios was on a small but steady decline. He sort of understood why. Globwobber Studios had only been around for 15 years, but most of its entertainment came from previously out of work toons from UPA and Famous Studios, an idea he personally found ridiculous. Maybe if Globwobbler didn't keep hiring washed up has-beens from the 50's, he wouldn't have this problem. Yet despite all of this, it was looking much better compared to Warner Bros.

"Also, there is this" Globwobber pulled two sheets from a hammerspace underneath his suit jacket. He handed them to him. It was exactly what Plotz was waiting for, a contract. To him, there was something very official and finalizing when it came to contracts. A contract was worth a lot more than a man's word. It was an agreement and a promise. Plotz eyes widened as he looked it over.

To his surprise, he liked it for the most part. There were no inconsistencies or typos as far as he could see. There were no extra expenses on top of the loan he still had to pay. And most importantly, the Warner Bros CEO; him of course, would be able to carry out any further action. Most of Warner Bros employees would be reassigned instead of being laid off. One thing that caught his attention was that the contract would go into effect within 24 hours after signage. It assured that once the partnership was official, it would last long enough until both studios feel they are financially stable individually.

"…Since I'm a growing studio, I need more workers to help grow with me. Of course, some of them will have to be re-purposed but that's business..."

Plotz was too distracted to question the validity of that statement as he looked it over a second time. This was unbelievable, there was an alternative to save the studio, and it was from J.W. of all people. Catching himself, he blinked. While he thought it was a good deal, he knew there had to be a catch.

"What are you asking in return?" Plotz asked.

"Nothing, Just your cooperation" J.W stated a matter of fact. Plotz wasn't fully pleased by that answer.

"Why are you doing this?" Globwobber got up and placed a hand on his shoulder. Plotz lifted up his head and looked Globwobber in the eye. The studio head had to be at least 30 years his junior, but yet he seemed just as sharp and focused as him.

"Because you need help. This may be your studio Plotz, but you can't run it by yourself." He uttered softly. "You don't have to sign it now; I understand this is a heavy decision. But, just think it over before you do it. Think about where you are right now"

Doing that wasn't hard at all. In Plotz's eyes, this investigation was turning out to be a disaster. He was still very far off from finding out anything. Lucky and Bonkers looked they couldn't solve their way out of a paper bag. Nurse was proving to be more competent than them. Scratchensniff was as useless as he expected. And Ralph managed to single-handedly make Pinky and the Brain the prime suspects. If hadn't done something soon, he had to wonder what he would do next, would he have to start taking more loans? Put in money from his personal savings account? The whole situation was very risky.

After thinking it over, Plotz rose from his seat. He was used to making difficult choices, and this one was no better. But he had to make one. And he knew which one to make.

"J.W Globbwobber…"

XXXX

Dazed but unhurt, Scratchensniff barely had time to get his bearings before a large hand dragged him off the ground. Suddenly he was staring into the green eyes of the angriest red-haired cowboy he'd ever seen, next to Yosemite Sam of course. The strong scent of alcohol made him scrunch his nose. Anger and alcohol was never a good combination.

"You little cue ball! What's the deal trying to sabotage my game?!"

"I'm so sorry, this was und accident" Scratchy pleaded in an attempt to diffuse the situation, even though he didn't really know what he had done yet.

"Well your about to have another one" A gloved fist arched back. Scratchy winced as he closed his eyes. If the throttling by his ex-girlfriend didn't hurt, this certainly would.

"Wait stop! He's with me!" He blinked at hearing Nurse's voice. She's here? Suddenly she appeared from the crowd, grabbing the attention from lustful gazers. A few catcalls and whistles spurted around her. The red-haired man's eyes brightened, his curly mustache straightened out.

"Well little lady, who are you?" His voice had been smoothed of the roughness from earlier. Scratchy felt the man let go and he collapsed onto the ground. Nurse barely paid attention to the other guy as she rushed over and knelt down to him.

"Are you alright?" she asked. Scratchy rubbed his bottom.

"Better than I'd thought I'd be" the psychiatrist replied. A meaty hand abruptly rushed between them.

"Yeah, yeah, the old man's fine" the large man cut in. "But please, tell me, mam, where have you've been all my life?" Nurse's furrowed her brows at him.

"That's none of your business. Alameda Slim, We'd like to talk to you about something…" she began to explain before the cowboy cut her off again.

"Well, I certainly have a lot to talk about myself." He took off his ten-gallon hat, exposing a matted mullet. His eyes fluttered. Scratchensniff backed away from him. So this was the guy they were looking for. Not surprisingly, he was just as intimidating as he thought. "See, I've been mourning the end of a beautiful relationship with a nice blond mink.

_Minerva perhaps…?_

"But I had to let her run free like a wild horse roaming the prairie" he cooed with the conviction of a rattlesnake. "And I need someone to fill that void..." Scratchy quickly noticed him gently reaching for Nurse's hand, she quickly swatted it away.

"Maybe when hell freezes over, I'll reconsider" she spat back. A few scattered "oohs" from the crowd blurted around them.

Scratchensniff's fist clenched. He'd only known him for a few seconds and he already didn't like this guy attitude. It took all of his willpower to douse the tiny urge inside to swing at him. He was sensible enough to not resort to physical violence. Nurse opened her mouth before he rudely cut her off again.

"Oh come on, I knows you ain't getting any action from cue ball here, no matter how much dough he makes" He turned to Scratchy. "What are you anyway?" Nurse stepped in front of him.

"That's none of your-" Slim held a hand up to her face, not taking his eye off him.

"Shut it, what are you? Lawyer, scientist, stock broker…?" Scratchensniff swallowed before answering.

"Psychiatrist" he paused a bit as he stood up. "And I think you should listen to her" Scratchensniff said with as much confidence as he could muster. Slim arched back with a hearty cackle, a brief hiccup interjected at the end.

"Lookie here, the crazy doctor wants me to back off!" he bellowed to the crowd around them. A few halfhearted chuckles gave their response. Scratchy breathed even harder as his fists clenched tighter. Although he wasn't moved by insults, the term 'crazy doctor' always made him miffed. "And what's he going to do, sit me down in his little chair and talk about my feelings?" Slim paused for a moment.

"Matter a fact, you do look familiar" his voice lowered, leaning into Scratchy's face. "Yeah, you were the crazy doctor on that show with those missing Warners! Both of you!" he howled with excitement. Scratchy's muscles tensed. So this guy did know who the Warners were. Was this guy the kidnapper they were looking for? "Say, what were their names again? Yakky, Wacky, and Dottie?"

"Yakko, Wakko, and Dot. Never Dottie" Scratchensniff answered with clenched teeth. Slim turned back towards Nurse.

"Yeah, Yeah… And them boys had a name for you. What was it?"

"It was Nurse" she barked defiantly. Scratchensniff knew what it really was, and he knew she hated that nickname.

"Nope, Nope, I think it was something more specific" Slim rested a pondering finger under his flabby chin.

"Just Nurse!" Scratchensiff could feel himself burning on the inside. This guy was really testing his patience. If he wasn't the kidnapper, then he was a perfect candidate for one of the Warners "special friends". In fact, he could hear one of their quotes at that moment.

 _Nowadays we often give our special friends a three strike warning, just to be civil..._  Yakko would say

 _But once their strikes are up_ " Dot would cut in. Wakko would swing his mallet in the air like a baseball bat.

 _They're Out!_  He'd say.

Back to the present, this Slim guy had already insulted him and disrespected his working partner.

_Two Strikes…_

"…It is Nurse!" She said once again. The brown hat slipped out of Slim's fingers and fell down to the floor.

"I'm sorry, I dropped my hat. Think you could get it for me?" he asked. Still annoyed and unsure, she bent down to pick it up. "Oh, I remember now! Hellooo Nurse!" And then he planted sharp slap on her butt. Nurse cried out.

_And there's the third…_

Not a moment later, Scratchensniff's left fist kissed Alameda Slim's face, right near his eye. The hulking cowboy's body flew three feet away and collided into a wooden support beam. Slim's eyes warbled while birds literally flew around his head. Scratchy bent over to massage his aching fist. He hadn't meant to hit him that hard. He looked at Nurse who had the same wide-eyed expression. Around them, the crowd erupted in a cacophony of catcalls and cheers.

"Got em with his own trophy too!" one called out.

Trophy?

He looked down at his still clenched fist and saw he was holding a thick golden handle. At one end was a golden sphere. The other end was a black block used a trophy stand. The label read Poker Championship. A drop of blood was at one corner. At least he knew what event he'd interrupted now. He dropped the trophy and looked back at Slim. The musclebound lummox was massaging his jaw. He spat out a tooth.

"Son of a bitch…" he muttered. As he got up, his face shone a bright shade of red. He reached underneath his rhinestone jacket. A holster was on his belt. This was not good "I oughta blast both of ya with…"

"With what?" A familiar voice cut in. Scratchensniff turned around, surprisingly relieved to see who it belonged to. Lucky Piquel was standing behind him, a gun drawn. His pants were back on, which told him they did catch up with the carjacker from earlier. His partner next to him had done likewise.

"Freeze like an ice cube Slim!" Bonkers commanded, a determined scowl on his face. It was probably closest the bobcat came to look intimidating. Slim's face returned to its normal color as he held up his hands.

"Everyone out! Party's over!" Lucky blared over the noisy crowd. As the crowd began to disperse, Scratchy cautiously approached Slim, ignoring his now throbbing fist.

"I believe Ms. Nurse said we needed to talk to you"

XXXX

Ralph's short attention span was being pushed to its limits tonight. Normally he lost himself in his own thoughts, but he remained focused on his task. He stood glued to the window door for past hour, or at least what he felt was an hour. So far he narrowly avoided being discovered 3 three times from other passing waiters. Plotz was still talking to the big guy who sat at the table with him. He couldn't hear a single word behind these doors. Was this the Slim guy they needed to find? He sure didn't look slim; this guy was kind of chubby. Then the thinner guy he'd come with earlier returned with drinks in each hand. Maybe it was him, he sure looked the part. He figured these guys were not out to hurt Plotz as the three of them were talking and laughing like old friends. Then the two mystery guys got up from their seats. The bigger guy shook Plotz's hand just before walking off. Plotz was alone again.

Ralph's left hand instinctively went for the final slice of gourmet pizza on the kitchen counter. Food always helped Ralph focus better, and this room had plenty of it lying around. Come to think of it, where were the chefs? Surely they wouldn't leave all of this around. Then he remembered the bubbling pots and pans on the stove. He had turned them off earlier when the food was starting to burn. It was as if something made all the chefs leave at once.

He heard a clatter. Ralph whipped his head back to see what caused it. A stray bucket had fallen to the floor near the back.

_Must have been mice… Wait maybe it was Pinky…_

A stinging foul aroma interrupted his train of thought. Suddenly the entire kitchen smelled like a room after a fresh coat of paint had been applied. A soft rustling could be heard. It was too dark to really see anything past the light shining through the double doors. He needed more light. Pizza slice in hand, he slowly scanned the walls to look for a switch. Something wasn't right here. He barely noticed a brief shadow zipping by behind him.

"Looking for this?" a husky voice answered. He turned to his right. Every muscle in his body froze. The pizza slice dropped from his hands. In front of him, two glowering eyes stared down at him. Then he heard the flick of a switch, the lights came on.

In front of Ralph was the meanest looking grizzly bear he'd ever seen. The toon rested a beefy arm against the wall. One of his paws scratched at his ragged red checkered shirt. His sardonic smirk was partially hidden from a few lingering hairs in his grimy green mohawk.

Ralph honestly thought he looked like Smokey the Bear if he quit his job as a park ranger, and became a punk instead. Each of his paws had gnarly looking claws that were overgrown and curled. Ralph was speechless, everything about this guy seemed wrong.

"What's with you big guy?" he asked. Hearing his voice was jarring. His calm and friendly voice reminded Ralph of his late Uncle Danny. But nothing about this guy seemed calm or friendly at all. "Ain't you going to tell me your name?"

"Ra- Ralph" he croaked nervously. The bear's expression went unchanged.

"Ralph. Nice to meet you" he patted himself on the chest. "Mr. Muguu"

"Moo goo?" Ralph clamped up when Muguu aimed a long rusty long claw at his nose.

"Mr. Muguu" the bear corrected. A harsh growl undercut his voice. Muguu let out a wide grin, exposing rows of yellowed sharp teeth. He raised his hand. A single swipe across Ralph's chest made the guard flinch. Suddenly his suit jacket fell apart; the tattered shreds littered the floor. He was back in his regular clothes "You're a security guard. I knew you weren't a chef. We chased them out hours ago." He chuckled. Ralph remained quiet as he silently cursed that his disguise was ruined. "I'm so rude; let me introduce you to my friends"

"Friends?" A heavy hand clamped on Ralph's shoulder, almost as big as his head. It twisted him around so fast he almost had his shoulder dislocated. Suddenly he was face to face with a pair of dark green eyes. This person was a human toon. Despite his ape-like face, shaggy brown hair, and a lumbering physic, he gracefully twiddled on the toes of his tiny feet. He was dressed in a full body black leotard, a brass knuckle rested on his right hand.

"Ralph, Lionel. Lionel, Ralph" Muguu came forward. The new guy eyed him from head to toe.

"Pretty grungy looking chap I'd say" he scoffed with a slight British accent. His voice also didn't match with his body.

Ralph was too dumbfounded to notice something tightening around his waist. He looked and nearly jumped out of his skin. His belt didn't have yellow snake eyes. He hastily pulled the third guest off him. Wriggling in his hand was a long rubbery toon that looked like a cross between a ferret and a snake. This creature's body was coated with brown fur that tapered down into a long scaly tail. It spat out a belt buckle.

"Agh!" a squeaky voice rasped. Oddly enough, his voice actually fit. "Do they even make belts in your size?!"

"Theys dos!" Ralph spat in an offense. A light chuckle came from the human toon.

"And I thought only the rap stars liked to walk around with pants around their ankles" Lionel retorted. Ralph looked down and realized he was standing in his shorts. Blushing, he dropped the weasel-like freak and pulled them up.

"That's Siba; New guy" Muguu came forward. "He's special…" For no reason, Siba wriggled on the floor in a cackling fit of laughter, or what he supposed sounded like laughter. The other two joined with a few light-hearted chuckles of their own. Ralph hastily backed behind a counter as they continued their chuckle fest. He quickly noticed all three of them had a bright sheen on their skin. It glistened underneath the harsh neon light. These toons were not normal, and he had met guys like Baloney the Dinosaur. Muguu was the first to stop chuckling.

"Say, what's this? He looked down. Ralph did the same. It was the pizza slice he'd dropped.

"Aw, I thought we was friends…" Muguu looked back up with a long face. He crossed his arms.

_We Were?_

"You had pizza and didn't leave any for us. Now that ain't right. Is it boys?"

" No. Very inconsiderate" Lionel answered. Siba rapidly shook his head like a rotating sprinkler. Ralph was still shaking to point where he couldn't really figure out what to say.

"Uh, sorry. Want, me to… make… you one?" Ralph wasn't sure why he said that. He couldn't cook. There was barely a time to think about what he said when he felt a hard tug on his shirt. His face was now pressed into Muguu's muzzle.

"Actually, how bout I make  _you_  one?" Muguu proposed. "All we knead is dough…"

Ralph cried out as he felt him being hurled onto a nearby counter. His face tasted the cold linoleum. Muguu's meaty fists grabbed at his arms and legs and began pulling and twisting at them like fresh taffy.

It should be known that nearly all toons have the ability to squash and stretch their bodies to any extent. Ralph was no exception; it was how he was still standing after all the abuse the Warners gave him. As a result, he'd built up a high tolerance for pain over the years. It didn't mean he couldn't feel it, especially when his body had pretty much been lying dormant inside his booth for a year.

The guard yelped as he was flattened out and tossed into the air. After a few seconds, Muguu flopped him back on the counter. Ralph groaned as his body slowly returned to normal. His neck ached when he lifted his head up. Lionel came forward balancing several small bowls in his arms. Siba's head poked from a bowl on top of his head.

"Get out of there, you'll contaminate the olives!" Lionel snapped.

"I like them!" Siba spat back. Ralph felt a tug on his shirt where his badge rested.

"So Ralph… Warners Bros huh?" The guard titled his head to the left. Mr. Muguu was tapping his foot. He noticed the bear was only wearing one shoe. It was black and white, kind of like the ones you'd see in a bowling alley.

_Wait, didn't that bobcat say something about a missing shoe?_

"Word on the street is that your studio's going under. And the CEO taking the heat" Ralph's eyebrows rose.

"How do you know about that? What dos you guys want with Plotz?" A shower of marinara sauce spilled onto his head. Lionel tossed a small bowl off the side.

"So sorry, but that's confidential information…" Lionel stated formally, not sounding at all sorry. Then he rapped at Ralph's head with the edge of his brass knuckle. The guard rubbed his head "We read the news numskull!"

"So, Plotz is his name" Muguu pondered softly. " I always pictured him as a Percy or something like that. But anyway, we don't want anything. But if I were you I'd start looking for a new job, because once he finds a way out, you're going out with it" Lionel chucked a bowl of shredded cheese all over Ralph.

"You don't know Plotz! He wouldn't do that!" Ralph sputtered cheese from his mouth. This guy barely knew his boss, who was he to talk bad about him?

"And what makes you say that chappie?" Lionel asked. Siba freely flung mushrooms and pepperoni on the entire counter.

"He's, he's a good guy. He's just busy finding those Warners Brothers, And... And he's my friend…" A glob of sour cream splattered on his head. Muguu grabbed the back of Ralph's shirt collar.

"Ha! And you believe that crap?!" the bear exclaimed.

"Why wouldn't I?" Ralph breathed heavily. Lionel cleared his throat.

"You see, Mr. Plotz may be your  _friend_ …" he flexed his fingers at the word friend. "But he is still a businessman. He wants things that create revenue, sales, and of course results. And he needs people extendable enough to do that." Lionel threw a few olives his way.

"What he means is this…" Muguu came back in. He yanked up his head by the back of his shirt collar. "Hired help can always be replaced. If he wants to keep the studio around, he doesn't need worthless fat slobs like you." Then he pulled a banana cream from off to the side and slammed it in Ralph's face. Lionel and Siba erupted into a fit of cackling laughter.

Their taunting smiles started to disappear when Ralph's face darkened a few shades of red. The pizza toppings melted off him. It wasn't often whenever he got angry, but the awful things he just heard drove him to do just that. These three had crossed a line, no one talked about his boss like that. Plotz didn't think he was worthless. Sure Plotz was angry at him in the past, but that didn't mean he didn't want him. Didn't it? The Warners teasing were all still in good fun. But these guys were just being mean.

"Hey, he looks a little steamed…" Siba answered.

"What do ya know? He's already cooked!" Muguu cackled at his own joke. He was resting on a counter a few feet away. "You know, I let you meet my friends. You say Plotz is your friend. Maybe we should go out there and return the favor…"

Ralph had to act fast. These guys were going to hurt Plotz. It was here he noticed behind the bear, was a pizza pan buried under a bag of flour. Its wooden handle stuck out over the countertop. It was just a little out of his reach. Ralph looked down at Muguu's feet again. He needed that shoe. He didn't know why, but something in his memory told him he needed to get it. A bright ding went off in the back of his head. In a rare instance, he had an idea. With his temper gone, he sat upright.

"Wait! Duh, cans I has that shoe? It looks nice" Ralph asked politely, trying his best to ignore the conversation from earlier. Muguu 's smirk disappeared for a moment when he looked down. It returned with another derisive chuckle.

"Sure stupid." Muguu graciously accepted. He bent down to unfasten the shoes worn laces. Lionel frowned.

"I really don't think you…" the burly toon cut in before Muguu interrupted him.

"Shut up! I'm missing the other one anyway." He pulled the size 11 shoe off his foot and tossed it at Ralph. The guard rubbed the shoe's rough leather hide. "You know it's funny, no matter what I wear, no how hard I tap the ground. My feet never make a sound…"

"Aw, gee… That's too bad!" Ralph exclaimed. Shoe in hand, he stretched his arm out towards the counter. The sole of the shoe slammed the pizza pan's handle, catapulting the bag of flour in the air. It exploded into a blinding fog. Ralph scrambled to his feet as the others coughed. For extra measure he blindly sucker punched the largest thing he could see in the gut. A deep cough followed by a growl came out.

"You gonna wish you hadn't done that." Muguu's voice trailed behind him. A low roar came afterward. Ralph ignored the chills he got as he burst through the kitchen's double doors, leaving a trail of flour behind.

The CEO stared right at Ralph as he made a beeline for the table. It took a moment for him to realize who he really was underneath the thin layer of flour. But once he did, he didn't look happy.

"Wes gotta go boss!" Ralph hurriedly spoke.

"Ralph?!" Plotz yelled. Without a moment to lose, the guard grabbed his boss's hand. The red-faced CEO kicked and pawed at the air. "Dammit Ralph! What do you think you're doing?! Let go!"

"Saving you!" Ralph blurted out.

"From what?!" They looked up after hearing a slam from the double doors. Ralph gulped. Muguu gnashed his teeth. It took one petrified look from Plotz to understand… "Well, what are you waiting for? Get me out of here!"

Thankful he understood, he bolted from the table just as Muguu lunged for them. Not looking back, Ralph heard a crash followed by another grizzly roar.

His heart felt like it was beating a million times per minute. Muguu had picked up speed and started chasing them. Ralph tightened his grip on Plotz's hand who dangled helplessly in the air. There were a lot more toons around than there was earlier, and making his way through them was slowing him down. His feet were almost brought to a standstill as he suddenly found himself packed like a sardine in a huge crowd. He looked back. Thankfully it seemed to be slowing down his pursuer too. Muguu muscled his way through the crowd in the opposite direction. For extra measure, Ralph ducked down to avoid being seen.

"Alright toons and toonettes, get off your seats and start swinging!" A cheery voice blared within the commotion. Enthusiastic applause erupted around him. He raised his head for a brief moment and quickly understood what was going on. A large big band had formed at the center stage. It was just like the ones he used to see in those old black and white movies. Then the music started.

Ralph strained over sounds of blaring trumpets and saxophones as he struggled to find his way out. This was made even more difficult by the numerous dancing guests bumping against him. Up ahead he saw a clearing before him. Sighing in relief, Ralph barely noticed another person behind him tapping his shoulder. He turned around.

"Uh-ohs" Ralph gasped. Grabbing onto his free hand was Lionel, now in a light blue zoot suit.

"Leaving already chap? The show just got started!" Ralph barely had time to protest as his body was suddenly flung into the air. Lionel quickly caught him before he dropped him on the floor. He picked him up again and swung him around like a rag-doll, all while stepping in perfect timing to the fast-paced music. Ralph groaned and grunted after each landing. An occasional grunt from Plotz followed every other time he hit the floor as well. Lionel was the worst dance partner ever.

"Ralph, Ow! Get us out of here! I'm too old to do the jitterbug! Ouch!" Plotz yelped over his shoulder

"You!" a voice answered behind him. He turned around. Muguu's head poked just above the thick crowd. The bear let out a short growl. Several toons cleared the way as Muguu ran right towards them. Ralph had to do something fast. Just as Muguu was on him, he twisted and twirled underneath Lionel's arm. He let go. The sudden movement caused Lionel to fly right into Muguu.

"Argh, let go of me Lionel!" the bear growled as the toon joyfully dragged him across the floor, oblivious that he'd unintentionally switched dance partners. Suppressing the urge to chuckle, Ralph made his leave through the crowd. With escape the only thing on his mind, he didn't care about the number of guests he bumped against. Up ahead was the exit out of this place.

_Almost there…_

He looked back again to see if he was still being tailed. He almost wished he didn't. Siba was there. He slithered towards them like a poisonous moccasin in the water. The furry snake/ferret hybrid coiled around the tables and sprung onto the table tops to gain on them. And it was working. The exit was only a few feet away. Then Siba prepared to strike.

He sprang into the air, his open mouth bared a set of fangs aimed at his back. Ralph closed his eyes in anticipation of the pain. Instead, he heard a clang and a thud of a falling body. He reopened his eyes. Trailing behind him was an unconscious Siba, lying on the floor.

"Keep Moving!" Plotz yelled. Ralph noticed in the corner of his eye that his boss had picked up a silver tray. A perfect imprint of Siba's rodent-like face was on the tray. He didn't have time to admire Plotz's quick thinking as Lionel and Muguu suddenly reappeared from the crowd.

"Come on they're getting away!" Muguu called out to his partners.

Not wanting to risk another close call Ralph pulled out all the stops and ran as fast as he could. He could barely see his own two feet as he blazed out through the exit and into the main hallway. He breezed around a corner, almost hitting the wall in front of him. He kept going.

"Ralph, we lost them! Stop!" Plotz yelled out. Ralph's feet kept moving. He realized it had been a long time since he ran this fast. However, he forgot that once he got moving, it was very hard to stop. This was a problem as directly in front of him was the balcony he'd fallen out earlier. "Stop!"

"I- is trying!" Ralph reached down in a futile attempt to grab his feet. The balcony was getting closer.

"Stop!" Plotz shouted. The guard jumped up and planted the heels of his shoes into the carpet. He could smell the scent of burning rubber as they skidded down the hallway. Slowly but finally, they came to a stop. Ralph let go of Plotz's hand and stopped to catch his breath. He was exhausted, but he protected Plotz. Both of them were safe. Ralph frowned in puzzlement as his boss was still trembling and shaking.

"Dah, what's wrong? They're gone now"

"Ralph… don't look down!" was all the CEO could muster from his mouth.

"Why n…?" Ralph looked down and understood instantly. Beneath their feet was nothing but a 100-foot drop to the roof of the Schizelhaus. "Yipe!"

"You Idiot…!" Plotz shouted just as gravity finally gave way. The two of them held each other tight, screaming at the top of their lungs, bracing for the impact below.

XXXX

Earlier around the same time, Slim's interview was about to begin. It only took a few minutes for the crowd to disappear. Lucky and Bonkers sat Slim down at a table while Scratchensniff and Nurse stood nearby. Neither of them wanted to be close to him right now, especially Nurse. She rubbed her bottom which was still sore from Slim's surprise slap. Slim's eye on the side where Scratchy punched him was already starting to turn pink. In a day or two, he'd have a definite black eye. She was almost disappointed that Lucky and Bonkers showed up when they did. She would have given him an extra lick right after Scratchensiff. After a few more minutes of awkward silence, Slim finally spoke up.

"Look I ain't done anything since my shop closed down, I'm an honest man!"

"Relax, relax" Bonkers sat on the opposite side of the table. "We're not here to bust you…"

"Although wed like too" Lucky interjected.

"We just want to ask a few questions about two guys that disappeared recently" The cowboy spat on the ground.

"Well pardner, what if I ain't got nothing to say?" Slim sneered.

"Then you won't mind being taken in for sexual harassment and disorderly conduct." Bonkers explained.

Alameda Slim nearly rose from his seat when Lucky came from behind. His equally beefy arms wrapped around Slim's broad shoulders in a vice grip. The cowboy nearly slipped out of his seat as he tried to escape his grasp.

"And I'll take you to the slammer myself!" Lucky grunted. "It's your deal,  _pardner"_  he mocked his southern drawl on the word partner.

"Okay okay! I'll tell you what I know" he grumbled reluctantly. "Just let go of me!" Lucky released his grip and let Slim sit back down. Nurse wasn't happy with the option of letting him go, but as long they received the information they needed, it was fine. Besides, the sucker punch was justice enough for her.

"Thank you, see how easy that was?" Bonkers stated cheerfully. His face instantly went back to serious mode as he marched across the table and right up to Slim's face. "Promise you'll tell the truth?"

"Yes!"

"The whole truth and nothing but the truth?"

"Yes!"

"Perfect, so tell me… where were you when the devil went down to Georgia?"

"What?!" Slim barked in confusion. Lucky shoved Bonkers off the table and took a seat.

"I got this…" Lucky muttered "Do you happen to know anything about Pinky and the Brain? They are the two white lab mice that disappeared a few weeks ago. A few sources say they were in your shop a while back." Slim rolled his eyes to the ceiling as he rested a finger under his chin.

"Nope, don't recall I have…"

"Maybe this will jog your memory" Lucky tossed him a picture of the two lab mice along the damaged receipts from the lab. Slim took out a pair of bifocals from his jacket and gingerly examined each receipt. His face soured a bit when he realized his own signature was on a few of them.

"You have lovely penmanship by the way" Bonkers cut in briefly. Slim laid the receipts down.

"Yeah, you know what; I might have seen these guys several months ago. They said they needed as much metal as they could get. One of the best sales I've had in a while."

"You can probably tell these receipts were too damaged to tell us the full story. So tell us, what else do you remember them buying?" Lucky continued.

"The shorter one asked for Glass panes, oil, a few gears, gasoline…" While Slim continued explaining, Nurse glanced at the receipts. Sure enough, the ones that had held Slim's signature, did indeed list those items. "…the taller one asked if I sold cheese and I told him this ain't no damn restaurant…"

"Focus! Did they buy anything such as plane parts?"

"Nope, told em if they wanted that they had to go out of town. To where I don't know." Lucky busily wrote down a few notes in his writing pad.

"Okay, Your store closed down for good in June of last year, right?

"Right!" Slim replied. This rose Nurse's attention. He was quick to answer this one.

_A little too quickly if you ask me_

She took one side glance at Scratchensniff. He stared straight ahead with that intense frown he always had whenever he felt something wasn't right. It was comforting knowing he seemed to have the same suspicion she had.

"Now, I'm going to ask you this; and be honest! Did your store sell paint thinner?" Slim paused for a few seconds.

"No."

"Did the mice try to buy paint thinner at that store? Did they ask for any?"

"No, No!"

"Did anyone come in for paint thinner at all?"

"You takin me for some dirty pusher man?!" Slim raised his voice.

"I'm taking you to jail if you don't tell us what we need to know!" Lucky matched his tone. Nurse could understand why he would be upset. Paint thinner was a chronic poison for toons, you weren't exactly looked up favorably if someone knew you sold it. Slim stared up at the ceiling for a moment and rubbed his eyes. Finally, he answered.

"Ye-Yes, someone did"

"Describe the situation for me…"

"Four guys came in asking for some about a month before I was shut down. I told them we don't sell that kind of stuff here.

"If they didn't get paint thinner, what did they get?

"Gasoline. About 10 jugs worth. Masks and gloves, lots of gloves" Slim picked up the receipt and held it to Lucky's face. "And this the correct date alright. March 10. Exactly one month before I closed." Nurse's mouth dropped, so someone else was involved in this whole thing.

"Describe them. What did they look like?" Lucky continued. Slim narrowed his eyes as sweat began to bead from his head. "Come on, now's not the time to get cold feet" he pressed on.

"Cause wed sure hate to thaw out those babies" Bonkers cut in. He tapped at Slim's rusty brown cowboy boots. She was surprised, while Bonkers was so zany and unorthodox, Lucky was a strict by the book officer. How did these two end up together? Slim grimaced as he began to speak.

"One them had…"

Everyone was completely oblivious when something heavy crashed through the ceiling. It landed right on the table where Slim and the detectives sat. Everything disappeared in a blinding cloud of dust. Nurse coughed as she accidentally inhaled the scent of falling drywall of and plaster. She covered her mouth and nose with the front end of her white blouse. A hand landed on her shoulder.

"Nurse, are you okay?" Scratchensniff voice called out.

"Yes, I am" she replied. In a few moments, the dust finally cleared up. On the table, or what was left of it was Ralph. The guard tiredly heaved as he lay on the ground. The last time she'd seen him so exhausted was when he chased the Warners several months ago. On top of him was an equally dazed Mr. Plotz.

"I told you don't look down…" The CEO breathed just before he flopped down on Ralph's back. Bonkers appeared from behind him. He looked down at Lucky's head poking out from underneath Ralph's gut.

"Lucky, what are you doing down there?"

"Nothing, I'm just admiring the floor work" Lucky grumbled. Bonkers zipped underneath Plotz and lifted him above his head. Then he dropped him on the floor. Plotz got up and brushed the dust off his ripped suit jacket.

"And this was a rental too..." Plotz mumbled. Nurse ignored his typical response as she looked over at Bonkers straining himself in a futile attempt to lift Ralph. Scratchensniff shook his head.

"You aren't going to lift him" Scratchy commented. "You need help?"

"No wait, I almost got it!" Bonkers shrieked. His eyes were about ready bug out of his head. She and Scratchensniff ran over to help.

It took both the effort of them along with Bonkers to get Ralph off the ground. Ralph in return bent over and helped Lucky up afterward. Nurse could hear a tiny crack when the large detective struggled to get back on his feet. She realized he'd taken the brunt of the impact. By instinct, she started lightly poking at his arms to see if anything was broken.

"Are you alright? Does it hurt to move?" she asked.

"Nah, I'm fine." he rubbed his back. "I'm getting too old for this…"Beyond irritated, he turned to the others.

"Vhat happened?!" Scratchensniff asked.

"Big guys… after us… I saved him... But I got his shoe!" Ralph panted breathlessly. He pulled out a red and white shoe from his pocket. Nurse's face scrunched in confusion. Everyone else's except Ralph's did likewise. He might as well told them he was an alien. The CEO swiped the shoe out of his hands.

"What?! You mean that's why those freaks were after us? You stole their shoe?!" he yelled. Lucky jumped in between them just as a Plotz was getting ready to clobber him with it.

"He can explain later, we still have a few questions to ask our buddy Slim here"

"Wait, Slim's here?!" Plotz's eyes widened.

"Sure he's, huh?" Lucky mouth gaped open. In his hands was Alameda Slim's rhinestone jacket. But Slim wasn't in it. He looked around just as everyone else did. Nurse also noticed that the trophy Scratchy hit him with was gone too. Slim had escaped. Lucky buried his free hand into his face. "Aww, nuts"


	8. Group Squabble

7:00 PM

Nurse buried a hand in her face. They finally had a major breakthrough in the case and they lost it within seconds. Ralph and Plotz's bad fall created the perfect distraction for Slim to get away.

"I thought it seemed a little less crowded up here!" Bonkers realized, stating the obvious. Mr. Plotz growled in agitation and smacked at Ralph's side.

"Nice going you nitwit!" he groaned harshly. Ralph cringed at his comment and simply hung his head. Nurse wouldn't have been surprised if Ralph suddenly shrunk before their eyes. Plotz, had a knack for doing that.

_Way to show gratitude, Mr. Plotz. He did save your life…_

"Wait a minute… let me see that shoe" Bonkers requested. Ralph, head still down, did as told and gave it to him. The large magnifying glass from earlier reappeared in his hand when he eyed the shoes worn leather.

"How did you know we were here?"Scratchensniff spoke up.

"We heard you scream, what the hell were you doing going in without us?!" Lucky scolded. Plotz jumped in front of him.

"Scratchensniff I expected you to set an example! I told you, all of you, to stay outside!" Plotz yelled, pointing a finger at him. Scratchensniff frowned as he attempted to get a word in edgewise.

"I'm sorry, but-"

"See this is exactly why I thought it was a mistake to bring you all. You can't just keep running off trying to…"Lucky grumbled. Irritated, Nurse stomped her feet in front of Plotz and him. The fire inside her had been relit. This wasn't fair. It's not like this whole thing was his fault.

"It was my idea! I left to find Slim." She blurted aloud. Everyone turned towards her.

"You?!" Plotz jumped in astonishment. She stormed towards Lucky who backed up, a guilty grimace on his face.

"The only reason Scratchy came because he was looking out for me! Something you weren't doing!" She hated to be harsh, but he had no right to be critical right now.

" Yeah! What's the idea of leaving us in the middle of the road?!" Plotz added, suddenly turning his anger onto him. "What took you so long? You lost your brains with your car?!" He poked a finger into Lucky's trembling gut. Nurse wasn't surprised at how quickly he jumped on him like that. She almost regretted that she said anything, almost. She was a bit surprised at what he said, was he really on her side? "Figures you would leave a woman to fend for herself!"

_Never mind_

"Excuse me, I need to…" Bonkers attempted to speak above his shouting. Nurse realized she was the only one who noticed.

"Now wait a minute…!" Lucky stepped forward.

"Quiet!" Bonkers demanded. He was ignored again.

"No, you wait minute!" Plotz countered. Then Bonkers shrieked at the top of his lungs.

"Hold It!" Dead silence was his response. All eyes in the room locked onto him. The bobcat's giddy smile from earlier had been replaced with a full-on disapproving glare. A stray wood chip fluttered from the hole in the ceiling.

"Nice…" Lucky dug into one of his ears.

"That's better. Look we can't keep blaming each other for what happened. Sometimes funny things just happen! It's Mickey's Law!"

"Murphy's Law" Lucky quipped.

"Tomato tomahto, the point Warners are counting on us! You think they would be happy if they knew we were going at each other like this?" Everyone shifted in an awkward period of silence. Seeing the bobcat being serious was actually a bit unnerving.

"No, they wouldn't" Scratchensniff uttered softly. The others nodded their heads in response. Plotz still looked very miffed as he pouted and crossed his arms, but that was normal for him. Lucky rubbed his forehead. He let out a sigh.

"Look, I'm sorry we took so long. When we came back, we saw you guys were gone. We figured the worst and came as quick as we could." Nurse's scowl lessened a bit. They  _did_  handle the situation once they came back. Even though she was still upset with him, she could tell he truly felt bad about the whole thing.

"So, let's start this over" Bonkers frown melted away. "Lucky…"

"Alright, Nurse…" the portly detective cautiously lumbered a few steps to her. "How'd you know did you know Slim would be here?"

"I didn't. But Bonkers said that Slim loved yodeling. Then I heard the music coming inside the Schitzelhaus. So wouldn't a club that encourages his kind of music be right up his alley?" she answered truthfully. It was a flaky tip at best, but she thought it was better than nothing. While Lucky was understandably perplexed, Bonkers face lit up with stars in his eyes.

"Wow! Attractive and attentive! She's getting to be just like me" he beamed.

"That, I find scary" Lucky muttered.

"So that explains  _your_  business" Plotz muttered. Nurse wasn't happy to hear that, but that was as close to a compliment she would ever get from him. "So what did he say? Is this guy the reason my studio is going under?" he added, returning his gaze on the detectives. Bonkers put an arm around his shoulder.

"Not quite sure, but we can say he's more suspicious than a kid with frosting on his face." He replied.

"Our cowboy here didn't feel like talking until we added the heat" Lucky cut in. "All we know is this, he sold Pinky and the Brain most of the items on the receipts. He claims he didn't sell them that paint thinner, nor did they ask for some. However, someone else did. Who, we don't know.

"What else?" Plotz shouted impatiently. "How long has he been doing this?

"There is nothing else, that's all we got before we lost him"

"Not quite! That's where this little baby comes in!" Bonkers chirped. He held up the shoe Ralph found earlier. His partner stared at him in confusion.

"What are you talking about?" Bonkers ignored him as he approached Ralph. He tugged at his shirt tail.

"Hey, Big guy!"

"Yeah?" the guard's head lifted up. He'd been completely silent up until now.

"Where did you get this shoe?"

"From the guys dat chased me. I- I figured you need it" he replied meekly. Lucky took one look at the shoe and took out his notepad.

"Tell us everything that happened" Lucky commanded. Ralph took a side glance at Plotz.

"Well go on! The other two explained themselves!" Plotz snapped. Ralph did as told as he summarized the story in the best way he could.

"Okay, so I went insides the other club so I could keep an eye on Plotz. But I didn't want him to see me so I dressed up a waiter for a disguise when I wents inside." He blabbed rapidly. With his frog-like voice and a slight stutter, Nurse knew that Ralph wasn't always the best speaker. It was part of the reason he was rarely used in episodes without the Warners back on the show. The guard tiptoed around the damaged table top "Th-Then I found the kitchen to be the perfect spot, so I rushed in past Plotz as fast as I could."

"So you were that waiter who ran past me!" Plotz stated in realization. Ralph nodded as he continued. He held his hands to his face as if he was looking through binoculars.

"So I stayed in there for an hour while I looked at Plotz through da window. Bu-But nothing happened. So I ates two of the pizzas inside to pass the time…"

"Vhy vould you do that?" Scratchy arched an eyebrow.

"Food helps me think better!" Ralph rubbed his belly. Bonkers popped up from behind his shoulder.

"What kind of cheese was on it?" he asked.

"Tink it was cheddar mixed with brie-Oww!" Plotz pulled him down to his height by the ear.

"Focus Ralph! Get to when those guys came up!" he seethed. Ralph rubbed his sore ear after he let go.

"Oh yeah, so when I watching him, this big bear with green hair on his head came out at me!" The guard raised his arms above his head and gnashed his teeth. "Then there was this shaggy haired guy with a lot of muscles that talked like Wakko. Both of them were real big and strong. An- and Then this little rat snake thing with beady eyes snuck up on me and ate my belt." He lifted up his gut which accidentally caused his pants to loosen up. Bonkers grabbed them at the waist just before they fell down.

"Yikes! No need for a reenactment! I don't want to hafta put you in for indecent exposure!" he remarked.

"Goodnight everybody…" Scratcensniff muttered flatly. Nurse whipped her head towards him when tiny gasp piped from his mouth. Plotz went slack-jawed for a brief moment.

"Did you just… never mind. Keep talking Ralph." Plotz said after regaining his composure. Ralph kept going.

"But all these guys were all bright and shiny, they knew who I was, and they knew about Plotz too!"

"All shiny? Bonkers you know any toons that look like that?" Lucky asked. His co-partner rested a finger underneath his lips.

"Nope, and I know just about every toon who lives in California!" Bonkers responded before Ralph resumed.

"…But then they said mean tings about me, and about you. And they tossed me around, pulled on me, and flattened me out, and they put toppings all over me like a pizza…!"

"You poor thing!" Nurse answered incredulously.

"What kind of cheese did they put on  _you?_ " Bonkers cut in again.

"I tinks…"

"Can we stop talking about food?! What did those guys want with me?!" Plotz yelled. Ralph paused a moment before continuing.

"They said they wanted to meet you, But I knew it wasn't true." He grabbed the shoe he found from Bonkers. "So I tricked the bear into giving dis shoe and I ran out a there! Then I founds Plotz and those guys stared to chase me. I tried to lose them in the crowd but then the shaggy-haired guy found me and made me dance with him" he twiddled on his toes before stumbling over the broken table top. Plotz let out a pained grunt when he fell on top of him. Then Ralph got back up "And afters I ran from him, the little rat snake thing chased us until Plotz hit him with a pan"

"I personally think it looked like a weasel mixed with a lizard." The CEO brushed himself off.

"…Then after we lost them in the crowd. I ran ran ran as fast as I could!" Ralph huffed. He held the shoe under his arm like a quarterback while his legs ran in place. Then they screeched to a halt. "But we sort of fell right out the window. Then Plotz said don't look down, then I looked down and we fell in here and then Doctor Scratchy asked what happened? and I said Big guys were…" A hand slapped over his mouth.

"I think they get the picture Ralph!" Plotz scolded. Once he was done, Nurse couldn't wrap her head around it. Her mind was in a sublime state of disbelief and astonishment. She heard a lot of strange stories, and this one was no exception.

"Wow! You got all that Lucky?" Bonkers exclaimed. He looked behind him.

"I think I did…" Lucky lightly flipped up several overwritten pages in his notepad. "And you're saying all of this happened?"

"Uh huh! It's true!" Ralph replied.

"Are you sure about this Ralph?" Scratchensniff asked, understandably confused. Plotz shot a disgusted glare at him.

"Of course he's sure!" Plotz scoffed. "Those freaks could have killed me! I've never been so frightened in my life!"

"Mr. Plotz if you don't mind me asking, what were  _you_  doing inside the Ink and Paint Club, to begin with?" Lucky asked. The short man seemed to deflate a bit at hearing that.

"What do you think? I was looking for Slim too!" Plotz answered quickly. "I asked anybody inside that might have known where Slim was. But- but"

"But no one knew. So is that all?"

"Of course that's all!" he spat back as if asking that was an insult. Nurse wasn't sure why he sounded so defensive. Was it the fact that he couldn't handle that she and others made a bigger break in the case than he did? Was it something else entirely, or both?

"Big guy, did one of these guys have a brass knuckle?" Bonkers asked. The bald guard blinked in surprise.

"Yeah, he did. He hit me with it" Ralph pointed to a bump on his forehead. The bobcat stared at it for a couple more seconds before he started pulling various items from his blue jacket.

"Bonkers what are you thinking about?"

"Lucky, don't you think it's a huge coincidence Ralph met these guys when we started this investigation?" the orange cat proposed. A sly grin on his face.

"Not really…"

"Ralph, these guys were big and strong weren't they?"

"Uh- huh, Uh-huh!" Ralph eagerly nodded his head. Bonkers took out a picture that was used in the slideshow earlier that morning. It was the damaged inside of the planes hull.

"…Probably strong to make these dents we saw on the hull." He took out another picture. "And Lucky, you remember what we found when went through the wreckage?"

"A scorched paddle ball, a can, a brass knuckle and… a size eleven 11 bowling shoe" Lucky's eyebrows rose. He held up the image of the said item for everyone to see. He held Ralph's found shoe next to it. Black and white, it was the same color too.

"And what did our bodyguard find tonight? A size 11 bowling shoe!" Bonkers motioned everyone to come closer. She wasn't sure if he was doing this to avoid spilling the news to anyone else overhearing, or if it was just for dramatic effect. Probably the latter.

"Come on, it could be anyone else's shoe" Lucky shook his head.

"I know a lot of toons, and I know there are not many that wear  _bowling_  shoes on a regular basis, especially  _non-human toons_." Nurse gasped as she realized the point Bonkers was trying to make.

"Our hijackers didn't disappear for good, Ralph just met them tonight." When he said that, Ralph's jaw dropped to the floor, a guttural moan oozed from his mouth. Plotz fidgeted as he pulled at his hair.

"What?! That means…. We were just…! They… had...!" he stuttered. For once he was at a loss for words.

"So this does mean that Pinky and the Brain are innocent?" Scratchensniff spurted excitedly.

"Whoa hold on there" Lucky cut in. "Those two aren't off the hook yet. We still have to figure out how they got hold of that paint thinner. I don't think they bought it themselves, but someone else definitely did. And if Bonkers is right, it was probably those guys Ralph met tonight." Meanwhile, Bonkers paced around the table top, barely avoiding a broken table leg that nearly tripped him up.

"Last year, on March 10 is when they came to Slim. April 2 is when the Warners disappeared. So something happened within those few weeks." he pondered.

"We know one thing for sure, Slim is lying that he didn't sell paint thinner. The company's label on the charred can proves that point. So he had to get it somewhere else. The question is where?"

"There are several paint stores all around Burbank, why wouldn't they go to any of those places? It would be easy to buy some…" Scratchensniff proposed.

"Easy to buy for  _humans_ , not toons! It's illegal to have possession of paint thinner without a permit. That is a statewide law." Plotz corrected.

"Right, so they had to go out of state where that law isn't enforced," said Bonkers. He reached into his jacket and out came an enormous fold-out map. It was gingerly laid on the broken table. On it was a color-coded image of the United States. All of the states were blue while a few select ones; California, Washington, Oregon, Georgia, Florida, and New York were in pink.

"Why is some of the states colored pink?" Ralph asked.

"Good question, all of the states in pink are ones that have a high toon population. It also the states where paint thinner is outlawed. But the blue ones, heh! Those are free game!" Bonkers answered.

"That's still a lot of space to search from." Lucky rubbed his head.

"Not exactly, look at this…" Bonkers rummaged a gloved hand inside Slim's rhinestone jacket. From the jacket came two small paper slips that were hidden in the back pocket. Lucky picked up the first one.

"It's a to-do list: Win Poker championship, check, Meet up with Notty back on Sunday, collect from D.L…" he read slowly. Bonkers read the other slip. It was a small business card.

"Notts and Mils Scrapyard and Co. We specialize in used parts, for home improvement, auto repair, and various other needs. Located 4235 Wally St. in El Paso Texas!" Lucky swiped the slip down on the map.

"I bet my gut that's where we'll find out what's really going on here" he gloated with renewed determination.

"And that's a lot of gut to bet" Bonkers poked a finger right into his belly. Lucky grumpily chucked Slim's jacket right in his face.

"Oh, that's where- El Paso?!" Plotz yelped as if someone told him his hair was on fire. "No, No No. there has to be someplace else."

"Sorry pal, but that's our very next stop!" Bonkers replied. He clambered on top of Plotz balding head in the excitement "Can you believe it?! This could be the case of the century...!" He hit the ground with a thud after Plotz shoved him off.

"No, that may be our stop. But my stop tonight is straight home!" The CEO angrily stomped down the wooden stairs, mumbling to himself. Nurse's face scrunched in confusion, Plotz was acting very funny tonight. And not funny in a good way either.

"Ah, Why not? It's getting late anyway" Bonkers let out a yawn. He carelessly bounced down the stairs on his feet and tail. Nurse shook her head in disbelief, was this same guy the Warners ripped on their show every now and then? One minute he's hyperactive and zany and another minute he's actually competent. His partner rubbed his still sore back.

"Well, come on guys. We'll start again tomorrow" Lucky tiredly trudged after him. Nurse watched them disappear down the smoky first floor. Only her and her other two coworkers remained.

"I-Is gotta get going too. It's almost my bedtime" Ralph quickly uttered before he made his way down the stairs. She was surprised at how he wasn't giddy with joy after what they found out just a few minutes ago. She also cursed herself for not bothering to ask if he was okay, he'd taken a huge beat down earlier.

"Ralph, you did well tonight. You really did" said Scratchensniff. It happened just as she began to say something herself. Ralph froze midway down the stairs at hearing her working partner's voice. He looked back up.

"Tanks…You think, Plotz is still mad me?" he answered softly. She looked at Scratchy who gave his best sympathetic smile. They both knew the answer to that question, but they knew was Ralph was a sensitive guy. It wouldn't be right to tell him right now.

"Plotz is just tired. He'll feel better tomorrow." She replied with as much optimism as she could muster. It seemed to be just enough. Ralph gave a small smile of his own and continued down the stairs. The psychiatrist sighed.

"I tried talking to him earlier, he vas very defensive. I figured a little encouragement would be best for right now." Scratchy explained.

"Guess we'll have to keep trying then" Nurse shrugged. While she would have liked for him to say more, what he said was good enough. Whether Ralph knew it or not, he was a big help tonight. The two of them plodded down the stairs together.

"I'm starting to think the Varners zaniness never vent away; it just rubbed off onto me," Scratchy commented while he stared at his still throbbing fist.

"You worked with them over 20 years Doctor. I'd be more surprised if it didn't" she retorted. Scratchensniff laughed at that. He actually laughed. While she didn't find her comment all that witty, it was refreshing to hear that come out of him. It had been a long time since she'd seen him laugh. Despite her experience in medicine and nursing, she still believed laughter was very valuable to a person's health, and the Warners always gave him plenty.

There were still so many questions to ask after what happened today, probably more than what she had before. But she only had enough energy to ask one for tonight.

"Doctor Scratchensniff, do you know why Plotz got so weird when he found out we were going to El Paso?"

The psychiatrist frowned for a moment before he answered. He'd known Plotz a lot longer than both her and Ralph combined. She had a feeling this wasn't going to be a good answer.

"Plotz will kill me if he knows I told you. He doesn't like to talk about it but…"

"But what?"

"El Paso is his hometown" Oddly enough, out of all the surprises Nurse had tonight, this one surprised her the most.

"But I thought he was born right here in Bur-"She began to ask just as a honk of a car horn interrupted her.

"Will you two quit squawking and get inside what's left of this car?!" Plotz yelled from outside.

"What's left?" they asked in unison. When they came outside they instantly knew why. The detective's police cruiser had been stripped of its windows, doors, and hull. Amazingly, it was still running. Lucky and Bonkers sat up front, Lucky behind the wheel this time. Plotz had clambered up to the front to honk the car horn before plopping himself in the backseat beside Ralph. It looked less like a car and more like a go-kart. She sighed; at least she wouldn't have to worry about no elbow room on the ride back.

XXXX

8:30 PM

Over an hour later, Mr. Plotz was already trudging back towards his office. He had to check to see if his secretary hadn't screwed up that much today. It felt great to be back on his feet after the long uncomfortable ride back. Part of it was from the detectives irritating bickering, while the other was clinging on to Ralph's gut to avoid hitting the freeway at 70 mph. Plus, there was the decision he made back at the Ink and the Paint Club.

_I did the right thing…_

After pushing that thought out of his mind, he opened the door. To his surprise, Corden was busily looking over some files at his desk. He figured he would have gone home by now. When Corden looked up, his face morphed into that of excitement and then horror. He rushed over leaving a trail of papers in his wake.

"Plotz, Oh God… What happened to you?" he asked, tugging at the tears in his blue suit. "When I said take it easy, I actually  _meant_  take it easy!

"It's a long story…" Plotz responded tiredly. He spent the next few minutes recounting everything that happened earlier today. In return, Corden informed Plotz that not too much happened at the studio while he was gone.

"…All we had was another meeting to promote new DVD sales" Corden explained. "Well, that and the Hip Hippos complained about not getting a gold trailer, and another angry mob tried to fry Chicken Boo…" Plotz slumped into his chair and nearly fell out of it. It was readjusted a lot lower than at its usual height. Corden could have had the decency to give him a warning.

"That's nice, studios still in limbo and I'm being dragged against my will out to El Paso!" he remarked irritably.

"What's wrong with El Paso? I hear nice and warm this time of the year."

"It's warm every time of the year!" Plotz spat back. Corden ignored his fussing as he picked up the fallen pages.

"Still, remember how I said you have been overworked? Well here is your opportunity to finally relax! Who knows? You might even enjoy it…" It sure didn't feel like an opportunity. Corden didn't know that, but he sure as hell wasn't going to tell him why. Going back 'home' was not something he felt like doing, especially right now. He'd sworn years ago that he would never go back. So he changed the subject to one of high importance, but still just as uncomfortable. He pulled the lever on the side of his chair, the seat rose as far as it could go.

_I made the right choice…_

"You wouldn't believe who I ran into tonight…" Plotz grinned. Corden stopped in his tracks.

"Who?"

"J.W Globbwobber, we had a nice chat, had a couple of drinks, then he brought this." He reached inside his suit jacket. In his hands was a blank copy of the contract. "Look at it, legally binding" He handed it to Corden who snatched the document from him.

"Oh god, Plotz! This is excellent! This could put us out of our rut!" he cheered. The document vigorously wobbled in his hand. Plotz snatched it back before he wrinkled it.

"Yes, exactly what I thought"

"So were there any contradictions or technicalities?"

Not that I saw"

"Did you at least have a witness?"

"Of course, his secretary was there."

"That's great! So, did you sign it?

Plotz's smile faltered before he spoke. It was the most important decision he had to make for the studio in a long time. Normally once he made a choice, what was done is done. And he rarely changed his mind. But the new change in this mystery really turned everything around.

_That stupid bobcat…!_

Now he had to wonder how he was going to break it to everyone else. That would be easy right? He'd always been good at it before. He didn't have to worry. They'll understand.

_I did what was best for the studio… Right?_

"Yes, I did."


	9. Interlude/ The Chase Is On

Somewhere at 3:00 AM in the morning

_Being a watchman sucks…_

Mr. Muguu lazily reclined in an old chair that nearly creaked under his weight. His eyes dimmed in the low light from the ceiling lamp above him. His naked feet were still sore from the long evening earlier. In front of him past the iron bars were his captives, the Warners, sprawled across the floor. They laid there quietly giggling, half smiling with dopey grins. This is what they always did when they weren't asleep. If it wasn't the long boring hours of doing nothing or the unbearable musty smell of mold and half-eaten gruel splattered on the wall, it was this…

"Siibbs, I got another riddle for you!" Yakko slurred, his head poked up from the floor. Muguu had really grown to despise this one.

"What? What?" the other two Warners cackled as they briefly flopped on their knees.

"What's big and fluffy, and big, and looks like Sid Vicious?"

"Is it, the watchman?" Dot squeaked.

"Nope, it's a flabby circus freak with a bad hairdo" the eldest Warner's head wobbled.

"What's the difference?" Wakko coughed.

They burst into a brief fit of chuckles that died down as they tiredly fell back to the floor. Muguu grumbled at the display. This was the 50th time he'd heard that joke. And he still didn't find it funny. The Warners had just recently regained consciousness and were still very delirious. And once they got delirious, they got really annoying. Luckily his partners were bringing in the one thing that could knock them back out again.

_If only they would hurry the hell up…_

At the end of the hallway, Lionel and Siba came forward. Lionel held two large duffle bags under his meaty arms. Siba simply slithered around his neck and on the top of his head. He tightened up into a coil, creating a makeshift turban for Lionel.

"Siba, please…Get off!" he groaned bluntly. Muguu got up; the chair fell off just as he got on his feet.

"Took you two long enough! Where the hell…?!" A ringing from his phone chimed in his pocket. He groaned. Despite the nice tune, it was always followed by bad news. "Hello?"

" _Don't hello me, you know who I am!"_ the caller's voice bellowed in his ear.

"Oh, right" He winced at knowing how this would go.

" _Look I can't talk for long, so you better listen good. First, ask me why, why I leave you guys alone for one night and you idiots already caused trouble?! Those detectives are already on our tails! What were you trying to do?!"_

"Well, we were just uh, tr-trying to scare them off" Muguu's voice rose up a few pitches while he fumbled with his words. It was a growing habit that developed whenever he talked to his boss. He hated it; unfortunately, his partners had a different opinion. Siba pressed his clawed hands on his mouth to stifle his raspy chuckles.

"Trouble on the phone?" Lionel held a smug grin on his face. Muguu's hair spiked up when he whipped his head around.

"Shut Up!" he growled.

" _The hell did you say to me?!"_  Muguu nearly dropped the phone as he fumbled to regain his composure, and failing in the process.

"No! No! I didn't mean that but look, Look it wasn't our fault! This big fat guard came and ruined…"

" _I don't care what happened, I care that they know about you! I just found out there heading to El Paso. You guys got to go there too._

"Come on, we just came  _back_  from a trip!"

" _That's tough; you got to get down there before they do! I don't care what you do! Stop them_!"

"Well, well aren't you coming down us?

" _Of course not, that's where they might expect me to go! Besides I still have unfinished business here in Burbank. Now, are we clear?_ "

"We are"

" _Good! And by the way, change your wardrobe! You look like a circus freak with a bad hairdo!"_  He heard a click on phone, and then his partners' laughter came a second later.

"See, told you!" Yakko laughed before dropping back down again.

"It's not fun-"he paused and cleared his throat. "It's not funny!" his deeper voice returned.

"It sounds quite funny to me" Lionel chortled. The toon grunted when the bear's fist forced his back to the wall.

"You be quiet! It's your fault he got away! Dancing on the floor like you ain't have no sense…" he grunted himself when a tiny foot from Lionel, slammed him back towards the cell bars. Why did he have to be as strong as him?

"Excuse me for being a person who appreciates music. But, who was the one who that gave the guard a shoe?" he narrowed his eyes at the bear. Muguu knew he was right; he hated it when he was right.

"Touché" he muttered, mispronouncing as 'tooch' instead. "Look we got another job; the boss wants us down in El Paso."

"What for?" Siba asked.

"I'll tell ya'll later, just go get the car ready" the toon croaked briefly before he zipped down the hallway he came from.

"Lionel, go check on Brain. Make sure he stays too"

"Already did. That chap's not going anywhere." The toon flexed the muscles in his burly hands. Mr. Muguu looked down at the Warners. He really didn't care what happened to these guys, all of them were just cogs in his boss's great plan. Who was he to question that? They practically owed their lives to him. If he got busted, then the big plan was ruined. There was no telling what would happen next. And he wasn't waiting to find out.

He stared at the Warner closest to the bars. It was Wakko. The edges on his bright red hat were slightly worn after months of wear and tear. Muguu squeezed a meaty paw through the bars and gingerly took it off his head. He put it backwards on his own head, a few green strands of hair stuck out through the back end.

"Hmm, not bad. Of course, your initials are not W.W." Lionel uttered in approval. He dropped the duffle bags and opened of them.

"Boss did say I need to change my wardrobe, it's not like this kid going to need it anytime soon" He reached in the bag and pulled out a pair of latex gloves. After that, he pulled out some orange tinted goggles and snapped them on his face. Lionel did likewise and opened the other bag. Out came two jugs of paint thinner "Alright, let's shut these guys up real quick." He muttered.

He didn't know if the detectives were working alone or they had a crew with them, but he definitely knew that guard, Ralph, definitely was. Once he found those guys, he was going to kill that fat bastard.

"What was that? Who's coming?" the middle Warner perked up. The doped up smile was gone. Muguu placed the jugs against the cell bars, and then he opened both lids. The noxious fumes oozed out the openings, and inside the cell. The Warner's head bobbed while his eyes slowly fluttered less and less. His other two siblings stopped giggling.

"None of your business. Now, go back to sleep"

"Nighty… night…"

Muguu didn't care how tough the Warners were when he took them that night. Once they opened these jugs, the fight in them was over faster than you can say Animaniacs.


	10. The Ride Over/Next Stop El Paso

April 16th 5:04 PM

_Scratchensniff screamed as he sailed in the air. The shimmering ocean, hundreds of feet below him. These were two things Scratchensniff hated, heights and water. And yet just a few seconds ago, the Warners convinced him to jump. It was an indescribable experience to free fall with the blowing wind and warm Caribbean heat. Off in a distance, the Warner siblings appeared as tiny dots. All three of them slowly made their way towards him. He desperately reached for each one._

" _Come on Scratchy, almost there!" Dot called out. Then in one quick snatch, they were all in his arms._

" _Pull the cord! Pull the cord!" Wakko shouted over the wind noise. Scratchy did likewise and then the parachute deployed. All four of them floated above the ocean._

" _Scratchy you did it! You conquered your fear!" Yakko cheered._

" _I did it! I did it!" Scratchy whooped. Wakko took out a Kodiak camera on a bamboo stick. He stuck it out so the camera faced them._

" _Picture time!" Wakko exclaimed. They all smiled just before the flash went off._

" _I'm telling you Wakko, that thing will never catch on!" Dot commented. Wakko stuck his tongue out at her. At this point, they were less than a hundred feet above the water_.

" _How was that?" Yakko asked with a sly grin._

" _Whoo! Vonderful! Simply Vonderful!"_

" _Good cause uh…. We're about to land in the water, and its shark breeding season"_

" _Vhat?!" Suddenly a hole burst in the parachute. Everyone screamed as they all plummeted towards the water._

" _Don't let go Scratchy, Don't let go!" The Warner siblings shouted. He continued to hold them tight._

" _I vont let go! I von't let go…!"_

" _Doctor! Doctor…" a female voice called out._

"I von't let go, I von't let go..." The psychiatrist tossed and turned in his sleep when something shook him awake. He quickly sat up. Nurse was sitting next to him.

"Doctor, are you alright?" She asked him. He darted his eyes towards her. Behind her, brown mountains sailed by in the window. They were in the back seat of another car.

"Oh, it was just another dream. How far are we now?"

"About 1 hour away." She wiped her head.

"Oh good…" Both their heads were sweltering in the dry heat, despite the car's air conditioning. It felt like summer had come a few months early.

Everyone met up at the studio lot at 7 in the morning, then they hit the road around 7:30. Because Plotz had no interest in riding the detectives' damaged police cruiser again, he volunteered to let Lucky borrow one of his "cheap" cars, a gray six-seater, Cadillac Brougham Limo. Despite its fading paint job and slightly worn seats, it ran perfectly fine.

For the most part, It had been a pretty uneventful 11-hour ride down to El Paso. During the first leg of the trip, Lucky and Bonkers fought over what radio station to play before the radio's adjusting knob accidentally got ripped off. Then Bonkers took out his CD collection, playing music he personally didn't listen too, but he knew the Warners would have liked; The Dickies, Madness, and of course B 52's. And then that broke down as well. Plotz, however, didn't fuss as much as he normally would.

Scratchensniff looked down at his arms resting in his lap. The left hand was still a bit red from his encounter with Slim the other night.

I hope this isn't permanent" He rubbed it lightly. Nurse looked it over.

"Nope, after a soak in warm water, it should be back to normal by the end of the day" she gently massaged the top of his hand with her fingers. Earlier she had applied pain relief cream to help soothe the pain just a bit. "Hey, thanks for what you did last night. I know it was out of your character to do that"

"It's no issue, he really upset you didn't he?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I be?"

Vell, you never had a problem when the Warner Brothers…"

"Doctor, Wakko and Yakko  _were boys_.  _Men_  on the hand should know better. Besides, at least the brothers were cute. I know you saw something odd with Slim last night. You had that look"

"Vhat do you mean?" he blinked.

"You know, the squinting eyes, the deep frown you used to have with the Warners early sessions. That look" Scratchensniff honestly didn't realize he had a 'look' when he dealt with the Warners. He also didn't realize she was actually paying attention to his sessions. But he ignored that thought and explained what he saw.

"Slim  _was_  lying about not having paint thinner, that I am certain. I can't explain it, but I think he might be lying about some of the other things he said too.

"What tipped you off?"

"The body language, people who lie tend to give themselves away through body language. But as I vatched him, I saw how quick he was when he answered a few questions. Like his response to when Lucky asked if his store was closed, They were very quick and scripted."

"I saw that too!"

" But in the ones when he told the truth, he kept rolling his eyes to the ceiling, or he answered them a bit slower. But then, when Lucky asked about the other group that purchased the gasoline, he hesitated and then he ran.

You think there may something or somebody he knows that wants him to stay quiet?"

"Yes, that I am certain" The two of them sat together in silence. The mystery around Warners and the lab mice continued to get more complicated. Still, there were so many questions that didn't have any definite answers. After several seconds, he asked the question he had been meaning to ask her last night.

"Why did you go in there alone?" She turned away.

"I wanted to see if Slim was in there, I wasn't going to talk to him" she replied quickly.

"Nurse, you don't have to keep things from me, I know there's more…

"I'm not…!"

So please tell me, why?" She paused a moment. Then she sighed.

"Cause I just, I just wanted to feel like I was really helping you for once. And I didn't think waiting outside would do that."

"But, you're already a big help Nurse, far more than me. I've been no help at all"

"That's not true! You came for me when thought I was in trouble, you held off Slim long enough for Lucky and Bonkers to find us, and Slim. Scratchensniff you've been very helpful! And if Mr. Plotz actually bothered to listen to you he'd know that! "she gasped. He figured she wasn't intending on saying that last part. She wasn't exactly known for being outspoken.

"Nurse, I've worked with him for years, I'm used to not being listened to." He wished what he said matched how he felt. Maybe it was because he'd been with Plotz the longest he'd been more forgiving of his coarse and sometimes callous attitude. It sounded crazy, but he was starting to think Plotz wasn't as enthusiastic about this trip as he let on. And that was something Nurse already saw.

"Nurse, please no matter what you do, you're already a big help to me. But I don't want you throwing yourself in danger just for me." Nurse rested her head against the window and closed her eyes. Judging by her half smile, she didn't seem fully satisfied with that answer.

"Okay, Doctor. But really, I'll be fine. Besides we have a bodyguard on our hands." When she drifted off to sleep, Scratchensniff stared at the thick divider in front of him. Plotz and Ralph sat in the passenger seats ahead. He wondered if these things were really soundproof, he gently pried a tiny crack into the divider.

XXXX

Silence, sweet silence was all Plotz could hear as he stared out the window, well that and Ralph's light snoring. Up front, Lucky's eyes were glued to the road. Bonkers was busily trying to fix the CD player that thankfully broke hours ago. The stupid bobcat had accidentally jammed two discs into the player at once. Plotz was glad; He would have gone insane if he heard "Rock Lobster' or 'Yakety Yak' one more time.

Lucky remained silent after he'd tried to plead forgiveness for what happened last night, which Plotz quickly waved off. He didn't take kindly to Lucky trying to kiss up to him. That kind of tactic was reserved for masters like himself. The CEO was very glad these guys worked for peanuts because he would have never allowed this if this were any other high paying detective.

Plotz was still wondering what happened last night. It was full of surprises. But probably the most surprising thing about the whole night was Scratchensniff. Spineless, mild-mannered Scratchensniff. He'd never think in a million years he'd actually blatantly disobey him, and take on a former criminal no less. Whatever it was, it helped find some of the answers they needed. They ended up finding the one guy he wanted to find for himself. Maybe he shouldn't have been so hard on…

The snoring stopped. Ralph's eyes slowly blinked open. His flabby head turned towards him. Plotz had a feeling what was coming.

_Please don't talk to me, please don't talk…._

Boss…" he uttered groggily.

_Damn_

"What? What is it Ralph?" after what happened last night, he honestly thought the guard had nothing say. But he decided to hear him out anyway, no matter how stupid it would have sounded. He might as well; he was stuck sitting with him for the ride.

"I'm, sorry about what happened last night"

"Er, forget about it" Plotz replied briefly. In all truthfulness, Plotz knew he really didn't have to apologize. He did save his life, but he still disobeyed him. And he had to let Ralph understand the importance of that. A few more seconds of silence passed.

"Who was that guy you was talking last night?" Ralph broke the silence again. Plotz sat straight up at hearing this. He'd completely forgotten that Ralph had been spying on him from afar. He'd seen him talking to Globwobber. He wasn't sure how much did he see or hear until those goons came and ambushed him. And wasn't he sure he wanted to know.

"He's, just some movie star…"

"Really? I've never seen him work on our lot"

"He's, an upcoming star at a different studio"

"How many's movies he's been in?"

"Just one"

"Oh," The guard replied. What he told about Globwobber was half true, he  _did_ star as himself in one movie; "Tom and Jerry in the Fast and Furryous. But that film was far from star material in his opinion. "What was you guys talking about? I couldn't hear yous were saying" A small wave a relief came over, so he didn't know what was going on. That gave him a chance to cover up.

"Not much. Just small talk about the future of the movie business. We joked around, had a few drinks, that's it." He hoped it would be a good enough answer for Ralph to buy. A small smile on the guard's face confirmed that he did.

"He seemed like a nice guy" Ralph responded. Not wanting to talk about this anymore he quickly tried to change the subject.

"So uh, How's your son?" He hadn't thought about Ralph's son R.J since that Christmas Carol episode all those years ago. Ralph's eyebrow rose as he straightened up in his seat.

"Oh, he's all grown up and on his own now. Went to school at uh, dat school in Pennsylvania? Pencil Stake?"

"You mean Penn State?" Plotz groaned. He paused in realization. "Penn State?! That's wonderful!" It was one of the hardest schools to get in. Understandingly, the guard's smile beamed with pride.

"Yeah, He'll be finishing up there. Gee, I'm proud of him. I never even finished elementary school. "

_No surprise there_

"I bet your wife is plenty happy about that," Plotz answered.

"Oh she will- I mean would" he fumbled briefly. The smile began to dissipate.

"What do you mean 'would'? She's your wife right?" Ralph shifted uncomfortably. He stared down at the floor with a long face.

"Well, not no more" This bit of news caught Plotz off guard. Plotz remembered meeting his wife years ago. He thought she was a pretty nice lady, even though she was simple-minded and looked like Ralph's drag queen double. But they both looked so happy together. It seemed very unlikely that they would ever split up.

"What happened?"

"She didn't like my job. Said it was too dangerous and not enough money. She said that I needed to find a better job somewhere else. And said she would go if I decided to stay. I told her that you wouldn't steer us wrong. So I stayed, and then she…"

Plotz couldn't believe the insanity he was hearing. This explained a lot of his behavior in the past few months. He had given him a raise a few years back. But unless R.J. got a full ride scholarship, that meant most of what they had to pay had to come out their pockets, and Ralph barely had that much to cover that. Ralph was always good when came to loyalty, but not so much when it came to judgment. Plotz really didn't know what to say now; he wasn't used to giving employees advice.

"Well, sometimes things don't always work out with people you love." It sounded completely lousy as soon as he said it, but it was better than saying nothing.

"You think she may come back?" Plotz would have said no had it not been for the sullen look on his face.

"Oh sure, sure, In fact, once this is all over she'll come running back. But don't be upset. You trusted your instincts, and stuck to your guns" Plotz responded, trying his best to sound upbeat.

"But Plotz, you never give me no gun!" Plotz actually chuckled at hearing that. It wasn't often Ralph did anything but piss him off. So to hear this was very refreshing.

"Do you really think we'll find the Warners boss?" Plotz was really getting uncomfortable with Ralph asking all these questions. Especially ones he didn't want to answer.

"Of course we will.

"We won't really lose our jobs if we don't, will we?" This would be hard to promise. He remembered how J.W. Globwobber stated that most of the employees would be re-purposed. Scratchy and Nurse would fit in at the new studio just fine, but he doubted J.W. would be interested in any bumbling security guards. Neither he nor Ralph was really friends, but they always had a small amount of respect for another. Once this was all over, hed talk to J.W. to make sure he'd have  _somewhere_  to work, Maybe a janitor or something like that. He could always find a way around a contract, he wouldn't have been in the business this long if he hadn't.

"Of course not Ralph. You'll still have a job" he answered. The guard's smile returned.

"That's why I likes you, Plotz, you never go back on your word" Plotz cringed at how wrong he really was. Suddenly he felt really bad for how he treated him last night. "So, why don't you like El Paso?"

"Who told you I didn't? Scratchy told you I bet! That bald head cannot keep a…!"

"No- Nos! I just saw how upset you looked when Bonkers mentioned it last night."

_He'd actually noticed…?_

"Let's just say, this place brings back some bad memories."

"How?"

"Forget about it! It's a long story".

"I likes stories! What is it?" Ralph leaned in closer.

"Nothing, look it's not something I'd like to talk about"

"It can't be that bad" Ralph prodded a finger into Plotz's side.

"It is, now leave it alone!"

"Come on Tell me, Tell me, Tell me!" the burly guard grabbed him and shook him violently. Irritated, Plotz wrestled him off.

"Alright, Alright! You want to know?"

"Uh huh Uh Huh!" Ralph nodded eagerly.

"Promise not to tell anyone what I told you?"

"Duh, Absolutely."

"Lucky? Bonkers?!" he bore a stern eye towards the front seats.

"Way ahead of you" Bonkers chirped as he adjusted a set of earmuffs on his head. He'd already done likewise for Lucky. Plotz cleared his breath before he started. And starting was always the easiest part. The only other person who knew this story was Scratchy, and that was several years ago.

"Well, Over 70 years ago, a few years before the Warners were created, Warner's Bros created a couple of supporting characters for a couple of proposed Bosko cartoons. Two of them were a vaudeville couple; Esther an energetic fast talking piano player and his mild-mannered spouse, a lady barmaid named Berry."

Plotz took out his wallet and pulled out an old black and white picture. On the picture was a human toon couple in a black and white photo. On the left was Esther in all black suit, and wild curly hair that would make Groucho Marx jealous. To the right was Berry pouring water in a glass with short black hair and big bright eyes. A third stout character twirled on his toes between them. Ralph pointed to him.

"Isn't that Bosko right there?"

"Yep, but when his popularity dwindled, any further plans with the characters were scrapped. Then the Great Depression hit. They were out of a job without any place live, or anywhere to make money; they had no choice but to go where jobs were available. The closest they could find was a struggling local circus in El Paso. Vaudeville was their shtick. At first, they had a place to stay, a paying job…" he took out another picture. It was Esther and Berry still in costume. Below them stood a pudgy kid who had to be no more than three. Despite his whimsical propeller spun hat, bright polo, and the large sand-covered lollipop in hand, the boy had that familiar grumpy scowl. "…And of course a son."

"Gee he kinda looks…" Ralph paused, then he gasped. "That's you?!"

"Yep, that's me."

"Aww! You was a cute little boy! And you're just the same size then too!"

"Thanks, for that observation…" Plotz grumbled, his cheeks flushed red.

"So everything was okay den?"

"Not exactly, even though my parents worked 10 hours a day, we were always poor. Our rundown small apartment was ready to fall apart. We were often singled out for being the only toons in town. Folks treated us like some sideline freak show. My parents couldn't talk to anybody without being harassed that they didn't sing and dance for them first. I got into fights with the neighborhood bullies every day..."

"Why would they do that?" Ralph asked. Plotz sighed. The guard's naivety could be really annoying sometimes.

"People always hate something they don't understand at first. Also, it was never quiet in our place. If it wasn't the racket from the nearby train station, it was from my parents. They would yell and argue in the middle of the night, about what, I never knew. But it got so bad they decided it was best to split up. My mother left our humble abode, and I never saw her again. It was just me and my dad now."

"What was your ma like?" The aged CEO mentally kicked himself for not instantly knowing this. But then again, he had to be about four when she left.

" Don't really remember much, beautiful, quiet, and a really good heart, but tick her off, she could scream like a banshee" Truth be told, these were more of his dad's memories rather than his own. And his dad rarely talked about her ever since they split up. Plotz put the picture away.

"My dad always told me ' _there's a silver lining after every obstacle'_  And boy was he right. The big news came around 1935 when a want ad for toons was mailed out to my father. I still remember the day when my dad told me that our lives would change for the better. We were moving out of El Paso and straight to Hollywood. He would say " _Forget everything about this dead-end town, Where we're going is a place of opportunity!_ ' We packed our bags and left without a goodbye from our neighbors. And our lives were fine ever since" Plotz hoped to leave it at that, but as he suspected Ralph was still anxious for more. Sure enough…

"What was your pa like?" he asked. Plotz swallowed before he began. This was when the story started to become difficult to tell.

"Esther was a lot of things, musically inclined, arrogant, high strung, demanding, and a huge control freak. But he was a dreamer and a hell of a hard worker who loved the entertainment industry. In no time at all, he became the studios head recruiter. A few more years with the studio, he managed to move all the way up to CEO, the first toon to ever do so"

"Wow!"

He took out another picture with just him and Esther. His father's hair had grayed and had traded in his old costume for a sharp dark gray suit. Next to him was Plotz who was a lot older now with a black flattop and wearing the same suit his dad wore.

"You must have been really proud of him."

"You bet I was. I was even more proud when he let me work as an intern when I got old enough."

"What did yous guys get to do together?" Plotz nearly scoffed at hearing that.

"What else? Work! My dad always stressed the importance of hard work. He didn't have time for playing around. But, at least once a year we took out time see a movie at the old theater. You know who my dad's favorite actor was? The man of a thousand voices himself Mel Blanc! Now that man was good!"

"Better than Frank Welker?" Ralph blurted out. Plotz was actually surprised he knew about him.

"Well, let's not go that far; nothing can top Mr. Welker… But anyways, when my dad started to get old, he needed someone to take over for him. It was then I suggested that maybe one day I could run the studio for him. I had already become a board member and gained a lot of knowledge since I started. Thought I was a definite shoe-in."

"He said yes?"

"No, he didn't. It was at that moment I found out where I stood between us. As blunt as he always was, he simply told me ' _It takes someone with experience and a lot of talent to do that, and I don't see that in you_ '."

"Gee…"

"Oh it hurt, but I wasn't ready to take that sitting down. I'd be able to run Warner Bros. if my dad didn't believe it or not. I may not have had talent, but I sure had an eye for it. I became a recruiter myself. Worked hard as I could, I made calls to anybody willing to listen, schmoozed with any actor who had potential to hit the big time! And still, it was never enough for him!" He breathed as he lowered his voice.

"Things started to change after that, we got busier, my father started to get sick, we couldn't stand to work in the same room together, we talked to each other less and less. And the need for a CEO successor grew with each year. By this time, most of the board favored me because I was Esther's son, but also, I brought in results. After talking it over with them, we made a decision. It didn't even matter that my father already considered his secretary as a possible candidate. My father was overruled and was forced to retire, and I became the new Chairman of the Board. I never felt any happier in my life."

"Then my dad decided to go back to El Paso, he stopped by my new office. We said our goodbyes, and then he left too. And that was the last time I ever talked to him." Plotz remembered his words.

_Know what your most valuable assets are, son. Goodbye._  Had he known that would be the last time he would ever speak to him, he wouldn't have said this.

_Get out Esther, you'll miss your flight_.

"Yeah, then what?" Ralph asked. Plotz almost wished it ended there.

"I got a call one night just a few weeks later. I found out he died in his sleep."

"What?"

"I made the mistake of going back to El Paso for the funeral. It was as if no time had passed since I left that place. Only a few people showed up. And those that did weren't happy to see me. Hardly anyone there really knew who my dad really was. It was as if his work meant nothing to anybody, except me. Despite our differences, I knew how special he was. I remembered what my dad had told me.  _Forget everything about this dead-end town, Where we're going is a place of opportunity!_  And me being the impressionable son I was, I did just that. I never went back, Warner Bros studio has done well, ever since. And we all lived happily ever after, until today"

When Plotz finished telling his story, Ralph remained silent at first. Plotz understood that this was a lot of information to take in.

" I- Is sorry to hear about that"

" Well that's life for you" Plotz grumbled.

"Thanks for telling me"

"Don't mention it, seriously"

_Thanks for listening._

"Oh I knows it's late, but I-I wanted to give you this." Ralph suddenly pulled a small wheel wrapped in foil from a hammerspace in his pants pocket. He handed it to him. Plotz gingerly ripped the foil open and saw what was inside. Ralph's wife had always made these as presents for Ralph to give around Christmas. But from the looks of it, she didn't make this. A dark brown gooey mound piled with nuts and berries laid before him. It was the second worst thing he couldn't stand behind the Warners, fruitcake." Happy Birthday! Try it!"

Plotz couldn't believe that he'd almost forgotten his own birthday. Then again, having your studio set ablaze kind of upstages that. And yet, Ralph didn't'. Now he really felt terrible. He pulled off a chunk of the cake and popped it in his mouth. Maybe eating it would make him feel better. Big mistake. It was worse than he expected. The odd taste of nut shells and sweeteners nearly made him throw up. Green faced, he swallowed.

"What do ya think? I might have used too much cinnamon" Plotz nearly gagged as the fruitcake tried to force its way back up.

"Memorable…" A crackle over the cars sound system cut him off.

"Testing! Testing!" Bonkers blared into a microphone.

"What?!"Lucky called out.

"Testing!" he screeched. A squeal of feedback made everyone cry out. Plotz remembered both of them still had earmuffs on. He took them off.

"Sorry, Everyone! We've reached our destination! If you look to your left you will see mountains and sand, sand, and more sand. And on to our right is El Paso!"

Sure enough, just beyond the horizon, there it was. Plotz gazed upon the city he hadn't visited in over 50 years. He was quickly taken aback at how big it was. High rises and highways replaced the stumpy brick buildings and smaller roads he was used to in the past. This place looked completely different from the one he knew. But he knew better than that. Looks can be deceiving.

Then he remembered the important reason why they were here, to begin with. As much as he couldn't stand the thought of coming back here, He couldn't let his own personal gripes prevent the others from finding out what they needed to know.

XXXX

Meanwhile "Damn traffic!" Mr. Muguu grumbled. The bear was getting a headache from his head constantly bumping against the roof of his gang's car. His legs felt squished sitting up front. Siba sat in the driver seat, repeatedly honking the car horn as if it were a drum. He struggled to get into a faster lane.

" I told you, we needed a map." Lionel simply crossed his arms as he sat in the back seat.

"We been here before, we don't need no map!" Muguu spat back. "Sides, how many times have we got lost?"

"Once or twice at most chap. Were already 3 hours late"

The bear muttered something foul under his breath as he continued staring out the window, trying his best not acknowledge his partner's pensive comments. "At this rate, the others have probably gone by the place by now…"

Then one lane over, a Cadillac Brougham Limo zipped by them. But what caught his attention was who was inside of it. Inside the first passenger seat, was the fat guard in the blue uniform.

"No… no, they haven't" He bared his sharp teeth. Lionel sat straight up, banging his head on the roof.

"What?! You saw them?!" he rubbed his head.

"Well, It wasn't the tooth fairy!"

"Let's go follow them!" Siba cackled as he began to swerve into the next lane. Muguu clamped his hand on the wheel to stop him.

"No, it will take them a moment to find out where the scrapyard is. If we're lucky we can beat them there before they do!" He beamed a malicious smile as the faded limo pulled further away from them. "Besides, I don't want to make strips out of that tub of lard just yet."

 

 


	11. Next Stop: Mils and Notts/ Scratchy's First Clue

6:00 PM

Scratchensniff stared out at the towering buildings of downtown El Paso. Lucky took a scenic route through the city towards their destination.

"...And over here is the classic Plaza Theatre, and over there is the El Paso Museum of Art … " Bonkers announced over the sound system, once again acting as a temporary tour guide.

It was almost as if the psychiatrist ventured into a whole new world. Sure the city didn't really look all that much different to Burbank aside from it's Tex Mex flair. But the striking feature was that there were hardly any toons at all, save for a tiny few speckled in between. He counted at least three. But aside from that, nothing but regular everyday humans. Scratchy knew that he and his gang stood out among the crowd. They looked like everyone else on the street, acted and talked like everyone else, except for the fact that they weren't real flesh and blood. As cliché as it sounded, he felt like a fish out of water.

The car stopped at a red light. Another car next to him rolled down its window. In the passenger seat, two girls probably in their teen years were signaling him to roll down his window. He rolled it down.

"Are you the doctor from Animaniacs?" one of them asked.

"Vhy…yes!" Scratcehnsniff responded politely, hiding his confusion. It wasn't often somebody asked him who he was. Then again it had been a long time since he'd been out of Burbank. He practically knew almost everyone there. One of the girls squealed and flipped out a cell phone.

"Can we take your picture real quick?" Before he had a chance to answer he heard a click. He barely had a chance to smile.

"Thanks!" they chirped as the light turned green. Both cars pulled off.

"Looks like you're not a total stranger here Scratchy." Nurse commented.

"You know, I never really considered myself a TV star, especially a popular one at that." He replied. He recalled back during the show's prime, a neat folder of fan mail would always be delivered to him after every month, whereas the Warners would get a full truckload almost every week.

"At least your fans are the nice kind. You wouldn't believe the kind of fans I get on the internet."

"How bad are they?"

"Let's just say they're the reason I 'Google'd myself only once." She shuddered.

"Goodnight Everybody" Scractehsniff muttered dryly.

"Scratchensniff!" He looked up at Mr. Plotz's irate face poking from behind his seat. Plotz had been (for the most part) quiet for the ride, so hearing that really caught him off guard. "Stop that, you're really creeping me out with that!"

"Sorry..." he apologized. Plotz mumbled something under his breath before he returned to his seat.

_I wonder if he ever considered the Warners to be a bad influence on me?_

"You know, this trip would have been a lot simpler if we flew." Lucky proposed.

"Please! And go through that nightmare known as airport security? " Plotz scoffed. "Besides they charge an arm and a leg just for first class!"

"Eh, that's true" Bonkers interjected. "And over there is the lovely San Juanito Plaza..!" he resumed with the tour.

Everyone didn't do too much talking for the rest of the ride. Especially after Lucky snipped a clothespin on Bonkers to shut him up. Several more minutes passed. It didn't take long at all to find the place they needed to go to. It was located on the other side of town at the edge of Frankin Mountains State Park. The car slowed to stop right in front of their destination. Mils and Notts didn't look all that impressive from afar. It was a single white building in front of mounds of scrap metal. A sole Chevy 67 Impala was the only car in the store's cracked parking lot. The paved walkway was lined with several wooden fence posts. The only other surrounding places were a gas station and a few apartments.

"Is this the place?" Ralph asked.

"This is it alright" Lucky answered. "Alright, Everyone out!"

Everyone got out of the car. Scratchensniff moaned when the dry heat beamed directly onto him. Had Wakko been here right now, he probably would've cooked an egg on his bald head, and then probably ate it.

"Hmm, I expected this place to be a bit, bigger" Bonkers kicked at a loose post in the ground. Everyone followed the paved pathway straight towards the building.

Scratchy realized someone was missing. He stopped to look back at the car. Plotz had opened his door, but he still remained in his seat. He stared straight ahead. What was he thinking about?

"Mr. Plotz, aren't you coming?" he asked him. Plotz blinked and turned to him.

"Yeah, I'm coming. Just adjusting to this damn heat" he took off the blue suit jacket that was understandably too hot for him. Scratchensniff swallowed a lump in his throat. The thing he was going to talk about next had to be tread lightly. The last time he tried to convince Plotz to talk about it, Plotz got angry and ordered him to never bring it up again. That was years ago.

"So… how does feel to be here?" he asked. Plotz narrowed his eyes at him.

"It's, warmer then I remember… he quipped dismissively.

" No I mean, how does it feel to be home...?" The CEO's expression darkened when he jumped out of the car. He stuck a finger at his nose.

"Let's get something straight here….Just because you know this is where I grew up, doesn't mean you can use your psychobabble on me!"

"But this is your first time in over…"

"Is you guys coming?" Ralph called out just ahead of them.

"Were coming!" Scratchesniff replied. Plotz cursed under his breath after the guard turned back around.

"It doesn't matter how long it's been!" Plotz lowered his voice. "This is strictly a business trip, once we find out what we need, were out of here! This may be where I'm from, but it isn't home"

He briskly trudged past Scratchy. The psychiatrist sighed and decided not to press any further. He and Plotz fell in with rest of the group, Lucky and Bonkers leading up front. Lucky came forward and opened the building's screen door. A wave of refreshingly cool air confirmed this place was air-conditioned. Slowly they filed inside. Scratchy nearly knocked over a few items from a nearby shelf. The store's interior was a stark contrast to its outer appearance. Despite being completely empty, it felt seriously crowded inside. Various items from car parts, to home improvement tools, to cleaning items, were neatly stacked on metal shelves. Picture a smaller homely version of Home Depot.

"Hmm, a little dusting and this place will be a shoe-in to pass the daily inspection" Bonkers rubbed a bit dust off a nearby shelf.

"Who cares how it looks? We're not here to perform a health inspection" Lucky grumbled.

"Hello, Howdy ya'll" a stilted voiced spoke up. Everyone turned around. Behind the counter was a lanky human toon dressed in a typical cowboy outfit. A mop of blond hair completely covered his eyes.

"How are you doing? My names Phil." The toon answered as if he'd rehearsed this a million times. He adjusted the red scarf on his scrawny neck. Lucky came up to the desk and held out his badge.

"This is Lucky Piquel of the Los Angles Toon Department. We need to speak with the store manager" Phil said nothing for a moment.

"Huh?"

"We need to speak with your store manager!" Lucky said a little louder." Phil turned his head to a side door at his left.

"Hey, Gil!" another toon came out the door. He looked completely identical to Phil except that he had a green scarf around his neck.

"What?"

"Do we have a manager here?"

"I don't know, we have a Sheriff"

"I don't need to speak with the sheriff!" Lucky cut in.

"You think the Sheriff knows what the manager is?" Gil pondered. Lucky buried a hand into his reddening face.

"I'm a cop! I don't need to-"

"Bill!" Phil and Gil called out. Another identical looking toon came out. Oddly enough, his entire body and clothing were light gray. All the coloring on him was completely washed out save for the blue scarf on his neck.

" _You_  know who the manager is?!"

"Yep," Bill replied.

"Oh thanks, can you tell me?" Lucky sighed in relief.

"You mean why the sheriff needs a manager?" He jumped back when Lucky pounded on the counter.

"I told you I don't need a…!"

"Now whoa! Hold on there!" A new voice answered in the back. It had a distinct Alabamian accent. Out the side door came a fat toon wolf. On his bright orange shirt was a name tag that read Sheriff. "What's all this hollerin about?" He beamed an irritated scowl at the identical triplets who quickly disappeared through the same door. "Darn Willie Brothers don't know how to help if their lives depended on it." Lucky buried his head into the counter.

"Please, tell me  _you_  know where the manger is!" he pleaded. The wolf laughed as if it were a funny joke. "Do I know who the manager is?! Well of course I know! You're looking right at him."

Scratchensniff paused for a moment to polish his glasses. He looked very familiar. It took a moment, but he finally recognized him. Bonkers leaped onto his bald head so he was at eye level with the wolf.

"Hey, aren't you from Robin Hood? Sheriff of Nottingham?" Bonkers spoke up before Scratchy could ask himself. A wide grin came across the wolf's furry face.

"Why I sure am! And you is, no don't tell me! Tigger! No no, Garfield..." Bonkers leaned into his face, his eyes bulging as he eagerly waited for him to figure it out.

"I'll give you a few hints, hyperactive toon cop has a fat detective as a sidekick, had a TV show that lasted 4 seasons…"

"Two seasons" Lucky faked a cough.

"Oh I remember now, I remember! Roger Rabbit!" The wolf snapped his fingers. Bonker's eager smile dissipated instantly.

"Close enough" he muttered.

"Didn't know they had toon sheriff's this far out." Plotz came forward. The wolf blushed as he twiddled with his fingers.

"Ehh… Sheriff for me is more of a privilege than rather than a state of authority. Plus it sounded better on my resume."

"Of course" Plotz muttered in disdain.

"So my friends, how can I help you? I've got everything you need from..."

"We don't need any supplies, Sheriff of Nottingham" Lucky stated.

"Please call me Sheriff or Notts, take your pick." The wolf corrected.

"Notts, all we want is to ask a few important questions. The welcoming smile slowly vanished away from the wolf's face.

"Now what might those be, officer?"

"We found out a suspicious person has been in your store recently. A person by the name of Alameda Slim." Notts concerned expression remained in place.

"Well, I'm not quite sure who that is.." the wolf crossed his arms. He nearly jumped when Bonkers appeared from behind the counter and plopped a graduate cap on his head.

"Well, let me educate you" Bonkers took over. "We think this guy is the reason the Warners and Pinky and the Brain disappeared"

"Is that right? And what makes you so sure?"

"Elementary dear Notty, for a few things. We know the mice bought a lot of stuff from Slim at his old shop in Los Angeles several months ago. But there's one thing that caught our eye in particular. Paint Thinner. Something that was found at both the crash site of the plane the Warners rode on, and at the remains of ACME Labs. We had a chance to talk to Slim about this whole substation. And he said he didn't have any. But the label of the thinner we found in the lab proved otherwise." Bonkers pulled out the empty can from his hammerspace. "See, courtesy of Slim Scrapyard and CO. "

"No offense, but what does all of this have to do with me?' Notts asked as innocent as he could be. At least that's what Scratchensniff thought. His face barely changed at all. If he was lying too, he was doing a good job.

"We knew he had to have gotten it from somewhere..."

"And the closest spot is here." Lucky finished his sentence. "Your business card was in his jacket, and we think he may not be working alone. So we want to find out if he or any other toons have come by here for paint thinner in the past year"

"Notts rubbed the stubble of loose hair under his chin, musing over everything he just heard.

"That's mighty sharp of you to consider that, but I don't think you'll find what you're looking for"

"I'll be the judge of that; you have any purchases on record?"

"Of course! Think I'm an animal like critter of some sorts?" Notts scoffed in offense.

"Technically…" Bonkers spoke up but quickly shut up when Plotz clamped a hand over his mouth.

"Wait here. I'll be right back." He disappeared back behind the door.

"You think he might be lying?" Nurse asked softly.

"I don't know. But at least he's more cooperative than…" Lucky answered just as Sheriff returned with two items under his shoulder. The first one he placed on the desk was a large white jug. It was slightly bigger than the one Bonkers pulled out. The label was bright orange and read "Thinner Courtesy of Notts and Mils Company."

"But that doesn't look anything like the one we found!" Ralph blurted out

"Slim probably switched the labels when he sold them at his store" Lucky countered. "Check and see if they're there Bonkers" Bonkers gingerly flexed his fingers before he grabbed hold of the old jug. Gently he peeled back the label. Then in one clean swipe, he peeled it clean off the jug. The old jug was completely bare. There was no label underneath.

"Nothing, Lucky" Bonkers responded.

Notts dropped the second item he'd brought onto the counter. It was a thick three-ring binder. He opened it about halfway through.

"Here. These are all the purchases for paint thinner, strictly made by toons since we've opened. As you can see, we haven't had much." Lucky bent over the counter and carefully examined each individual date. There were only six. December 12 and 17 from last year, September 26, then June 5 and 6. But it was the earliest date that caught everyone's attention, March 16.

"Aha! So what happened here?!" Bonkers exclaimed. Notts pulled out a file from inside the binder.

"We had a really small group come by that day, bought at least 5 jugs of the stuff.

"Did they happen to mention what they were using it for?" Lucky cut in.

"No, they didn't. Now I want you to look at this and tell me do you see the man you're looking for?"

Bonkers grabbed at the folder. His excited grin melted away after a few seconds. His orange face nearly paled at what he saw.

"Wait a minute, this can't be right!" he hastily flipped through the files. "They couldn't!" Scratchensniff grew concerned at hearing that. What did they see?

"Let me see…" Lucky looked over the folder as well. His expression soured as he shook his head. The portly cop grabbed hold of the binder and looked at the other dates... "Lockheed, Joes Paint ship, Slim's not in any of these."

Worried, Scratchensinff tried to see what was wrong. He couldn't really see with Lucky and Bonkers in the way. But he could tell from their frustrated grimaces that it wasn't good. He reached underneath Lucky's massive arm to grab the folder.

"You be careful with that!" Notts snapped. Scratcehsniff ignored him as he stared down at what laid before him. Everyone else's eyes widened with horror at what they saw. It was the last thing they wanted to see. Inside was a copy of the receipt. It was a purchase for 5 jugs of paint thinner. It was made out to Pinky and the Brain, and at the bottom were their signatures.

"No No! No! This can't be!' Scratchensniff quivered. His hands shook so much he nearly dropped the folder. He set it back on the counter. Notts shrugged as he placed the folder back inside the binder.

"No!" Nurse gasped.

"They really did do it?" Ralph exclaimed.

"That can't be right! Let me see that book, you must've looked at the wrong file!" Plotz lunged for the binder. Notts pulled it away before he could get it.

"Sorry, the papers don't lie, son," the wolf remarked. "Now, if ya'll ain't gonna buy anything, I suggest you get out." And with that, he disappeared behind the side door. Bonkers clambered onto the bare counter.

"But those goons, the shoe, and knuckles…" his stammered, disappointment overtaking voice.

"We're just something to lure us away from the case" Lucky finished his sentence. Head hanging low, he rested a hand on Scratchensniff shoulder. "Dr. Scratchensniff… I'm so sorry." The psychiatrist gently pushed it away and looked at him.

"Don't be, you were right" he responded softly. Lucky's crestfallen expression remained in place. Scratchensniff stared at everyone around him. They had come so far just to find out this. "I- I need to be alone for a moment." Without another word, he walked out the door.

Scratchensniff barely paid any attention to where he was going. Despite the warm weather, he felt a chilly breeze brush past his head. He wandered out back to the junk piles of the scrapyard. Some of the piles towered well above his head. He plopped himself down near a mound of car tires. A small sigh came out. He couldn't believe this. The second day was almost over, and the only thing to show for it was more incrementing evidence on the mice and even less certainty on where the Warner trio was.

A few seconds later, someone else sat down next to him. He looked to his right. Bonkers hanging ears drooped to the ground.

"Are you okay?" he asked Bonkers. The bobcat's ears perked up halfway.

"Course, I'm fine. It isn't the first time I've had bad luck on a case. But I'll get over it" Scratchensniff could understand how he felt. This was probably the first case he had in a while, only to find out the truth was not what he was hoping to be "Well it's still not over yet, we still have to find out how this ties in with the missing Warner's." he added, a bit of confidence regaining in his voice.

"Yes we could, but what help I would be?"

"What are you talking about?" Bonkers stood up.

"I'm not a detective like you, I've haven't found any clues, I've haven't created an leads, I've been completely unhelpful these past two days."

"So? Everyone's got a bit of detective in them! You just gotta find a way to bring it out." Scratchensniff pulled out the picture from his hammerspace. The Warner's smiled at him through the cracked frame. He put it back in. "Just out of tiny curiosity, do you have the time?" Scratchy pulled out his cell phone.

"It's 6:25" Scratchy replied. Bonkers stretched his head over the screen, blocking Scratchy's view.

"Lot of apps on your phone, Contacts, Weather, Minecraft, Email, with two messages?" He paused for a moment. "Scratchensiff how often do you check your email?"

"Not often, Vhy?"

"Maybe you should check it right now." Scratchensniff pressed the orange app. On the screen appeared two messages in bold print. The first one was a note from, Christopher Walken. But the second one nearly made his heart stop. In bold print, it read Yakko Warner. And it was from yesterday.

_Oh, God…_

Less than the second later he clicked on it. And up came the full message.

_"Heeeellllooo, Scratchensniff! If your not him, make sure our P-psychiatrist Dr. Scratchensniff gets this letter. This is yours truly, Yakko Warner here."_

His entire body jittered. He could almost hear Yakko saying that right to his face.

_"Oh, and Wakko and Dot are here too I guess. You're probably wondering where we are and if we're all right. Well, we can answer the second part as of right now. We're all okay and fine._   _It takes more than a plane crash to take us down"_

_But uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh… we're sort of being held against our will and have no idea how to get out. We honestly thought we could get out months ago, but our new friends suggested we should stay a little longer. All we can tell you is this. Pinky and the Brain are here with us. We don't know where, but we know they are in just as big trouble as we are. Something big is about to happen here and doesn't sound like a wrap party either. So if you can come find us that would be great._

_There are only three things we need, Some snacks for Wakko, he's been so hungry he's starting to eat drywall now. Says it has a nice salty flavor._

_Dot wants a mirror so she can get a good look at herself. Thinks looking her two handsome brothers is no longer a good substitute. But I digress. And if you can, bring Michael Phiffer_

_All jokes aside, Scratchy, if you're reading this, find us. Do everything you can. We don't care if you have to bore someone to death with your lectures in order to do it. We haven't given up on you. Don't you dare give up on us._

_Sincerely, Yakko._

_P.S Seriously, get Michelle Pfeiffer_

Scratchensniff dropped the phone and leaned back against the pile. They were still alive. And they managed to contact him. They were okay, for now. And they were waiting on him. At this point, he no longer cared about how useless he thought he was to this investigation. He remembered how disappointed they were when he refused to come to their wrap party that whole year ago. He wasn't going to disappoint them again. This revelation was slightly undercut by Bonkers bursting into the air like a firecracker.

"Yee -yowsers! This is perfect! "Bonkers jumped for joy. " See I told you weren't worthless! You just found the most important clue we had this entire time! Let's go tell the others!" he grabbed hold of Scratchy's hand and dragged him through the maze of scrapyard piles. Suddenly he stopped. He started sniffing the air.

"Vhats wrong?" Scratchy asked.

"Something smells funny, it smells like home improvement work, smells like freshly applied paint." Scratchensniff gulped when he heard that.

_Didn't Ralph say…_

He yelped in pain when something massive and heavy clamped over his free hand. The ground started to pull away as he lost his grip on Bonkers hand. His feet dangled in the air. An enormous shadow lingered over Bonkers. Trembling and shaking, he pointed just over his shoulder. Scratchensniff turned around.

The face of a grungy looking grizzly bear sneered at him. He was just like Ralph described. Muscular with shiny fur, with plaid clothes, and a grimy green Mohawk.

"Didn't anyone tell you it's dangerous to play in scrapyards?" He remarked teasingly. " You might get hurt" Scratchy winced when the grip around his hand tightened.

"Are you, Mr. Muguu?" Scratchy strained, trying to ignore the pain. The bear let out a wide grin, exposing his sharp crooked teeth.

"That's right. Ralph told you huh? Now, what are you doing here?"

He looked at the top of Muguu's head and suddenly felt something hot rise up inside him again. After everything that happened, he was no longer upset, distraught, or confused. He was angry. Even though it was torn and faded with grime. Scratchy recognized it as the gift he handmade for Wakko's birthday three years ago. On top of Muguu's head, was Wakko's red hat. Muguu rolled his eyes upward to see what he was looking at. He gave him a sickening smirk.

"Like it? Wakko, let me have it."

And then Scratchensniff lunged for the bear's face.

"Scratchensniff…!" Bonkers shout faded over Muguu 's guttural snarl.

"Let go of me you little cue ball!" the bear growled and wildly thrashed about. Scratchensniff's hand latched onto the rim of Wakko hat as Muguu bucked and roared to shake him off. He was honestly surprised his glasses hadn't fallen off at this point. He wasn't sure why he thought this was a good idea. Maybe it was the sentimental attachment the hat held, or it could have been the fact that this guy knew where the Warners were all this time, and he'd hurt them. His bald head slammed against a nearby metal sheet, causing him to see stars for a moment. Now was not the time for analyzing.

"Scratchy, grab my hand!" he could hear the bobcat within the confusion. Although it took a lot of focus, he could make out his gloved white hand in the violent swishes of color. He grabbed on. Suddenly the ground came to underneath him. The bucking stopped and his muscles tensed up.

He looked up to see Bonkers grabbing on to him with both hands. He feet digging into the ground. Then he looked over his shoulder to see Muguu arched back, firmly planting both of his furry paws on the hat. Scratchy strained as he struggled to hang on. All the muscles in his arms felt like they were being stretched like rubber. It was the most painful match of tug of war he'd ever been.

"Get off! Get off! Get off!" Muguu growled. Suddenly, Scratchy felt something rip and immediately give way. He went flying and crashed right into Bonkers. Piles of cans and trash fell on top of him. Something pulled away at the rubble.

"Scratchy, Scratchy! Are you alright?!" Bonkers spouted worriedly. Dazed but not dead, the psychiatrist slowly got off the ground.

"Yes, I am fine, thanks" He looked down at his hands. Wakko's hat was safely back in his grasp. But so was something else. In the back of Wakko hat was a clump of green hair sticking out "Oh no…"

A low groan from behind them roused his attention. Muguu had one knee to the ground, holding onto his head. He felt the bald spot on top of his head where only a few strands of green hair remained. His eyed widened in stunning realization. He bared his sharp fans.

"You know, that's a much better look for you" Bonkers chuckled nervously.

"You gonna  _really_  wish you hadn't done tha-"

Someone large and heavy slammed into Muguu and tackled him to the ground. The timing was impeccable. Although his back was to them, the two of them instantly recognized him by the pale green shirt.

"Lucky!" Bonkers exclaimed.

"Oh thank you, you really…" Scratchensniff began to thank him.

"Don't thank me yet." Lucky forced the bear to the ground with both arms pressed into his back. "Stay down! You're under arrest for assisting in the kidnapping of the Warners!" Bonkers slipped in and restrained him with handcuffs. Scratchensniff got on his feet, putting the hat inside his hammerspace. He picked up his phone on the ground and put that away as well.

"Hope you don't mind staying around for a bit of QA" Bonkers proudly rested a foot onto his back. Muguu started to chuckle, it was a very low chuckle that sent chills up his spine.

"You detectives think you know everything don't you" the bear muttered.

"Of course! Why wouldn't we?"

"You know last time I checked, there are rules about off-duty toon cops" All three of them froze when he said that. How did he know they were off-duty cops?

"Yeah, like how we still have authority to bring suspicious people like you in?" Lucky remarked, trying to ignore his concern.

"In  _state_ you are, but out here, you have to abide by the law as any normal civilian. And let me guess where you flatfoots are from, Los Angles perhaps?" Lucky's face dropped at hearing that.

"Right" he croaked. Suddenly the bear bucked Lucky off his back.

"That makes you two, fresh meat." In one swift motion, he cracked the cuffs. Before Lucky had time to react, Muguu had slipped underneath his body and grabbed him by the shoulder. The portly cop wailed as the bear hurled him into the air. He crashed into a tall scrap pile several yards away.

" I'm fine, ouch…" he called out.

"Lucky!" Bonkers shouted. He stared up at Muguu, an intense glare in his eyes. Slowly he marched towards him. The bear flexed his fingers. "Scratchy, Go warn the others! Now!"

"I can't leave you here!" Scratchensniff protested. Bonkers looked back, his face softening for a moment.

"'I'll be fine! Trust me! Just go!"

Despite his disapproval, he did as told and ran back towards the building. Not far behind he could still hear Muguu's growling.

XXXX

"Sheriff! Notts whoever you are! Open this door!" Plotz yelled. Nurse didn't know why he bothered. He'd been banging at the back door for the past few minutes demanding Notts to answer a few more questions. And the wolf still hadn't come out. On top of that, Scratchensniff still hadn't come back inside. Even though Bonkers and Lucky went out to go check on him, she was getting very concerned. Ralph kicked at a random pebble in the floor.

"What do wes do now?" he asked. She really wasn't sure at this point, they couldn't just go back home. But it didn't seem like there was anything else they could find out here either. Even though the information they found basically painted the mice in the guilty party, Something still didn't seem right. She opened her mouth to respond when something else caught her attention. It was the acrid smell of fresh wall paint.

"I don't kn- Wait, Ralph, do you smell that ?" she sniffed. Ralph sniffed the air as well.

" Yeah, Id…"His eyes widened with horror. "Theys here!"

Before she could ask what he meant by that, a loud creak from the front door got her attention. Scratchensniff burst through the door, sweat beading from his head and scuff marks all over his sweater.

"Scratchensniff? What happened?!" Nurse remarked.

"We have to get out here now!" the psychiatrist breathed.

"Not until I get my answer from Notts here!" Plotz barked at him.

"Plotz please, They're after us!"

"Whose they? Who!" A loud slam from the front door made everyone jump. A click followed a second later. It wasn't from Scratchensiff. Someone else's meaty hand had pushed the door shut. It was almost deathly quiet inside, save for the jukebox playing Latino music in the background. She and the others looked at intruder before them.

Although he was beefy and shaggy-haired, he had an admittedly stylish red suit complete with a black cummerbund and top hat. His shiny shoes began to tap to the mid-tempo music in the background.

"Ever bothered to stop and listen what plays inside your store...?" she was slightly taken off guard by his distinguished voice. "You hear the most wonderful things." He danced past Scratchensniff and right towards her. She'd taken enough Latin dance classes to recognize his dance as the rhumba.

"Care to join? It takes two to tango." He held out his hand. A coy grin on his face.

"I'll pass" she uttered defiantly. Surprisingly though, the man actually complied and stepped back.

"Very well then, Siba?" He snapped his fingers. Something loose and rubbery shot out of his shirt sleeve and wrapped around her waistline. It was brown and furry. It got tighter and tighter the more she tried to loosen it. It curled around her arms. She gasped when she looked down. The creature's ferret-like face looked up at her with beady yellow eyes.

"Notts get out here now, Please!"Plotz banged on the door some more. The side door finally opened. "Now that's more like gah…!" He jumped back when a burly grizzly bear in plaid clothes came out the door. Plotz scampered away from the door and right behind Ralph, who was already trembling with fear.

"Yeah, Notts decided to close early today." The bear answered casually. Just as he said that she heard a revving of an engine from outside. Through a window she could make out the Chevy she saw earlier, speeding out of the driveway. And Notts was inside.

"What have you done with Lucky and Bonkers?!"' Scratchy demanded as he struggled to open the door. The bear shoved him to the ground with one of his massive paws. The shaggy-haired toon then grabbed him by the back of his sweater.

"Doctor...!" Nurse strained against Siba's tightening grip.

"None of your business, so let's just calm down and have a nice little chat." The bear uttered as he sat on top of the counter.

This was  _fantastic,_  Nurse thought. The door was locked. The store manager had abandoned them. And the goons they were trying to catch, caught them instead. They were trapped.

 


	12. Confrontation, Chase, Confession

6:30 PM

Ralph struggled to keep his breathing steady. He could feel his boss clinging to the back of his shirt. A few soft grunts came from Scratchensniff and Nurse as they desperately tried to escape the kidnappers' grip on them. It was quiet except for the light thumps of Mr. Muguu's aimlessly strolling feet and the jukebox in the far corner. For some reason, the bright sounds of Santana didn't sit well with the situation at hand. The bear turned it off.

"Music hater, I was enjoying that," Lionel muttered

"So… the gang's all here! Isn't this a peach?" Muguu gloated. These were the last toons Ralph wanted to run into right now, but yet here they were. How did they find them? Muguu cocked his head towards him. "Ralph, I thought you would have given us a friendlier introduction to your pals," he remarked with a faux offense. For some reason seeing him calm was making him more nervous than when he was angry. The bear rubbed the top of his head, it was completely bald except for a few strands. "Well no harm, my name is Mr. Muguu." Ralph looked over his shoulder.

"Lionel" the burly toon greeted. "Pleasure to meet you all." Scratchensniff glared at Muguu while Lionel continued to grab the back of his shirt with feigned indifference. He jolted and struggled to free himself from his grip. Ralph had never seen the psychiatrist this angry before. Next to him, Nurse was on her knees as Siba continued to wrap around her body like a boa constrictor.

"Siba!" The furry snake-like critter creaked. Siba bore his bulbous eyes at her face. Then he gaped his drooling mouth and leaned towards her cleavage. Using her remaining free arm, she slapped him upside side the head causing it to bobble up and down. A sharp moan creaked out as he wrapped his tail around said arm, leaving her completely immobile. Furious, Ralph charged at them.

"You leaves them alone! Gah..!" Not a moment after he moved something tugged his foot, causing him to hit the floor face first. A few cackles came after the impact. The floor began to pull away till he no longer touched the ground. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see an upside down Muguu tying his shoelaces to the base of a ceiling fan. Ralph strained every muscle in his body to free himself, but no luck.

"Let me see your brass knuckle" he heard Muguu utter.

"Please, you already lost yours. You're not losing mine!" Lionel scoffed.

"But you barely even use…! Oh forget it, I've been waiting to do this all day." Muguu relished deviously. Before Ralph could wonder what he meant by that, a sharp blow rocked his side. It was hard and quick. A brief yelp came out. His massive body swung in different directions. It actually hurt a lot more than any anvil the Warner's dropped on him. "That was for the sucker punch in the kitchen!" the bear growled. Another punch landed, this time it was in his stomach. It nearly knocked the wind out of him. "And this…!" Ralph could barely hear him as he helplessly hung like a side of beef. Another punch landed on his face. His vision began to blur and fade. He fought back the urge to lose his lunch. Muguu's fist arched back for another round. He closed his eyes. This next one would really hurt.

"And this was for being a fat…"

"Stop! Stop!" he heard his boss's voice yell out. The next punch never came. He opened his eyes, Plotz was standing in between him and the bear. A quick moan of relief came out. But his relief turned to worry knowing that now Plotz was in danger too.

"I'm ordering you to stop!" Plotz pointed his finger at the bear. Muguu arched back in astonishment before letting out another smirk.

"You order me?" he sniffed. "Sorry, but your cop buddies aren't bailing you out this time. And your bodyguard's a body bag!" Ralph winced at how true that statement was. His pals were in trouble and here he was hanging by his shoelaces. He hated that he felt so helpless.

"Vhat have you done with the Varners?!" Scratchensniff yelled out.

"Why are you doing all of this?! This is cruel and inhumane!" Nurse wailed.

"Yeah, them Warners ain't done nothing to you!" Ralph himself added.

"Look chap, it's not what the Warner's have done to us, it's that we need something from them to get what we want," Lionel explained a matter of factly.

"What is it that you want? Money?!" Plotz snapped. He pulled out several bills from his pocket and hurled them at Muguu. "Here! I've got plenty!"

"It isn't money we want Plotz…" Muguu answered. The CEO's face dropped.

"H-How did you know my name?!" Plotz gasped. Ralph felt Muguu land a paw on his side, the one he had just punched.

"Your boy Ralph here told us all about you last night," Lionel interjected.

"He's really convinced you wouldn't dump him and those other chumps as soon as you found another way to save the studio," Muguu added smugly.

"W- What?! Of course not! You think you can come here, threaten me and defile my integrity?! " Plotz responded furiously, his arms shaking. Ralph nodded his head in agreement.

Of course he wouldn't.

"I don't think so." Lionel sneered "You really don't sound very honest to me. Tell me, Ralph, do you think Plotz is being honest?"

"Oh course I dos!" Ralph exclaimed truthfully. He didn't know why Lionel couldn't see that. Plotz wouldn't have come along if he didn't want to, right? He could see the shaggy-haired toon staring across the room, a smile on his face. Then he remembered he was still upside down.

"Typical, what about you Nurse?" Lionel rolled his eyes. He looked at Nurse next to her. Her answer was muffled by Siba's tail wrapping around her face. "Forget it, the only response I'm interested in hearing is just from this chap." he looked down at his captive. "What's your name, sir?"

" Dr. S-Scratchensniff" the psychiatrist croaked.

"Well, Dr. Scratchensniff, Do you think Mr. Plotz is being honest?"

XXXX

Scratchensiff shivered at hearing Lionel call his name. He wasn't sure if this was a question he wanted to answer.

"Why do you ask?" he whispered. Lionel let go of him. He gingerly touched his sore neck. Suddenly the toons ugly mug was staring right at his face, his dark green eyes bore into his.

"Because you're a psychiatrist, you know how to read people." His voice lowered. "Now, give me an answer" This toon was nowhere near as massive as Muguu, but he still was just as intimidating. Scratchensniff stared at the floor as he fought the urge to say. He stared at Nurse who struggled in vain to get Siba off her. She gave a knowing nod towards him. Scratchtensniff was getting really worried that she be crushed.

"What are you waiting for?! Say something!" Plotz cried out. He watched his boss fiddle with his hands. He couldn't ignore Plotz's unusual behavior since last night. But his job was to analyze and help people, not condemn and interrogate them. Then again, Plotz did want to investigate with Slim alone, and Plotz did constantly try to speak on behalf of the team. But he did not want to give this, whatever he was, the satisfaction of proving him right. Finally, he got the nerve to give a calm response.

"Plotz hasn't provided enough evidence for me to really say"

"See? He can't disprove it! Cause it isn't true!" Plotz gloated. He could tell on the CEO's nervous smile that he wasn't fully confident with his answer. Muguu rolled his eyes. Lionel's brow lowered at hearing that.

"Let me assist you then chap" he muttered. He looked up at Muguu. "Search him"

"Gladly" The bear flexed his fingers and picked up Plotz by his feet. He carelessly dangled him in the air, shaking him like a ragdoll.

"H-hey-yyy, what are you do-doing?!"Plotz blubbered when various items fell out if him; dollar bills, coins, credit cards, 2 gold blocks, and finally a sheet of paper.

"Leave him alone!" Ralph called out. A light kick in the head was given to him. "Ow!"

"Shut up" Muguu replied. Lionel bent down and picked up the piece of paper. A coy grin stretched on his face. Plotz's eyes widened as he desperately reached for it.

"Give it! Don't read it!" he wailed.

"Ohh, why not? Is there something wrong with it?" Lionel looked up with a sly smirk.

"Yes, I-! I mean no!" Plotz stammered. Muguu looked over at the document in Lionel's hands. He let out a toothy grin.

"Oh, this is rich!" Muguu laughed. "When were you going to tell the gang about this? Never?!"

"Tell us what, Plotz what's he talking about?" Scratchensniff asked.

"What is it?" Nurse said breathlessly, her mouth breaching just above a tight coil Siba wrapped around her neck.

"It's nothing!" Plotz quickly responded.

"Oh, it's just a contract signed by a mister J.W. Globwobbler, CEO of Globwobbler studios. A lucky stiff who happened to meet Plotz."

A contract? When did Plotz have time to sign a contract?

"You remember seeing him, don't you Ralph?"

"But, But, he said he was an actor!" Ralph responded. His voice breaking a bit.

"He is!" said Plotz

"And look at the date, April 15 last night." Muguu coyly responded. Scratchensniff's muscles tensed up. His heart sank a bit after hearing the date.

He didn't, he wouldn't have…

"Plotz, what did you really do last night?" Lionel pressed on. Plotz fumbled to say something. The aging CEO shook as everyone expected an answer that didn't come. Muguu patted a comforting hand paw on his head.

"Ah, it's okay" he pulled out an orange mask from his hammerspace. "You can tell us back at our place" he snapped them on his face. Then he pulled out some gloves and slipped them on as well. Lionel did likewise for himself and put some on for Siba. Siba finally loosened his grip on Nurse and slithered away.

"Nurse…!" Scratchy ran over to her just as she collapsed on the floor. Although she had red marks on her arms and legs, thankfully she was still breathing.

"I'm… fine." she breathed heavily. She looked up, her face widened with horror. Scratchensniff looked up towards her direction and instantly knew why. In Muguu's hands was the paint thinner jug Notts pulled out earlier, he'd opened off the top.

"Hold your breath! Try not to breathe it in!" Nurse called out before she started to cough. The foul indescribable aroma kicked in quickly. Scratchy shook his head and rubbed his nose. His nostrils felt like they were practically on fire. He pressed the bottom of his collar to his face to block the smell, no avail. The others were doing no better. Plotz had one knee to the ground as he violently hacked and coughed everywhere. Ralph's bound body twitched and turned. He scrunched his nose, his eyes starting to water. Scratchy nearly stumbled as he made his way towards a window; he had to get rid of that smell. Something shoved him to the ground before he could do it. A foot planted itself on his back. Ignoring the pain he looked up. Muguu stood above him, dangling the open jug over his head, the stinging smell was even worse. His vision started to ripple and blur in the corner of his eyes.

"Don't worry guys, this just makes the ride home a bit easier…" Muguu spat coldly. Scratchy could almost see the malicious glint in his eyes, hidden behind that ghoulish orange mask.

Crash!

An explosion of wood and cheap merchandise rocked the entire store. Muguu disappeared within a hazy cloud of plaster dust. Scratchy coughed as he struggled to move underneath the fallen debris. He removed a loose shelf that had fallen on his legs. Sunlight and fresh air welcomed its way into the room. When the dust cleared, he could make out the scene. To his left was a piled up mess of broken merchandise and plaster. Underneath was a brown paw, a pale hand, and a brown tail. Ralph, who no longer hung in the air and Plotz dizzily laid on top of the rubble. Beyond them, Nurse was sprawled on the floor, rubbing her head. A dented paint can was right next to her. To Scratchy's right, he was face to face with the grill of a Cadillac Brougham Limo. He looked up at the car's window. It was the second time he was happy to see these guys.

"I told you that wasn't the reverse! Lucky yelled on the passenger side. He had a noticeable black eye and a nasty lump on his head.

"Honest mistake!" Bonkers called. His fur was completely ruffled; one of his long ears was bent at a sharp angle. "Get in!"

Everyone did as told when they scrambled to get on their feet, doing their best to avoid the broken glass and sharp wood. When Scratchy got on his feet, he realized the smell was still here. Although it wasn't as strong as before, he could still smell it. He looked down in shock. Off in a far corner, the jug of paint thinner had spilled onto the floor. A large puddle had formed, sending smaller section out in different directions. A small segment was slowly inching towards Nurse's hand as she was getting up.

"Vatch out!" he snatched her hand away from the puddle. Nurse gasped and gave Scratchy a thankful nod. She got back on her feet and trotted off to the car, her feet wobbling a bit with each step. Scratchensniff followed closely behind, his vision starting to blur again. Something was terribly wrong. Suddenly he felt a growing pain in his arm. He lifted up the arm and griped in pain. Paint thinner had spilled onto his sweater sleeve and was soaking into his arm. It felt like thousands of needles were pricking his arm at once.

"Come on!" Plotz's voice shouted. Scratchy tried his best to ignore the pain and kept moving. Then his entire arm went numb. His vision was slowly blending into a void of multicolored swirls. The muscles in his body felt hard and heavy. He barely noticed Nurse holding his arms as she pulled him into the car. The numbness had spread up to his chest and his other arm. A faint car door slam was heard. Then the revving of an engine. A wave of relief came over him, they were safe for now. By now the numbness spread through his entire body. He could no longer feel anything as he laid his head on the window.

The last thing he could see was a bright swirl of blond hair yelling at him.

"Scratchensniff, stay awake…!"

XXXX

"Stay with me, Doctor! !"

Nurse looked on in horror as Scratchensniff slumped down the back seat of the moving car. She pulled her hands back to avoid the massive spill on his arm. Although she was prepared for an emergency, she didn't think it would happen so soon.

"Dah, is he alright?" Ralph looked back at them. Mr. Plotz did likewise.

"What happened?!" His voice shivering with concern.

"It's the thinner! He got splashed." She replied, pulling a small first aid kit out of her hammer space "He needs medical attention!"

"There's no time, we have to get out of here!" Plotz pulled at his gray hairs.

"Not true" Lucky called out from the very front. "As long as we don't any more bad news, we'll be fine."

"Uhh, would that be bad news?" Ralph nervously stuck his head out the window. There was a roar of a rumbling engine. Nurse rolled down her window and saw what he was looking at. It was an enormous dark green jeep with all-terrain wheels, tailing right behind them. And in the tinted front view mirror, were Mr. Muguu and the gang.

"Oh sh…Step on it!" Lucky snapped.

"But Lucky, you always say to follow the speed limit…" Bonkers began to explain.

"Screw the speed limit! Just Drive!"

"Veeery well then!" Bonkers slammed on the gas and swerved off the road. The wheels rocked and rumbled over the sandy and bumpy ground. The goons in the jeep stayed right behind them. Everyone lurched back and forth.

Nurse nearly somersaulted in the backseat, as she hadn't buckled herself in. Scratchy's unconscious bald noggin nearly head-butted her by mistake. Nurse looked down and grabbed hold of his head to keep him steady. She reached for the first aid kit which had fallen on the floor. Ignoring her beating heart, she opened it and put on a pair of white gloves. This would have to be done quickly if there was one thing she learned from working with several paint thinner victims, it was this: the longer a toon remains in direct contact with thinner, the worse the damage will be. Some toons never regained their color, others were blinded, and some were left partially paralyzed. She couldn't let that happen to Scratchy, not after everything that's happened. All she had to do was ignore the fact that she was in a speeding car, off road, being chased by goons that may try to kill her. Simple right?

Just block out everything else, block it out…

Out of the kit came a small pair of scissors. She lifted his arm and quickly snipped away at the top of his sweater sleeve. A hard bump nearly made her stab him by mistake.

"Watch it Bonkers! You might hit someone!" Lucky barked.

Don't worry, Francis State Park is closed today!" Bonkers replied. "Imma lose them behind these boulders." Another hard swerve nearly made her lose focus. The deafening engine lowered in volume. The jeep pulled further behind, but it still stayed on them. Nurse hoped she hadn't pricked Scratchy too hard. Slower this time, she continued to cut off the rest of the sleeve.

Block it out…

She finished the cut. Gently, she pricked a dry edge of the sleeve and pulled it off his arm. The soaked sleeve was tossed out the window. Now she could easily look at the damage on his arm.

"Oh, God…" The burn was just as bad as she thought. The thinner had left a grayed out stain on his arm. All the color had been completely washed out. Luckily this burn didn't look like would be permanent. It would be weeks before it would return to normal. Out of the kit came a bottle of water and a roll of bandage wrap. For now, the best thing she could do was splash water on the burn, and wrap it up with a bandage. Then she remembered the grayed out clerk, Phil working at the store. Could he have been splashed by thinner too?

"Will he pull through?" Plotz answered softly. She hadn't realized he and Ralph were helplessly watching her. She couldn't blame them. None of them were used to dealing with something like this often, especially when it was a fellow coworker.

"Yes, he will" she sighed.

"Did we lose them?" I don't see the jeep" Ralph asked. He looked out the window. Sure enough, it was gone. The ground had leveled out a bit now. A steep hillside was coming up on their left. An odd growling made her arch an eyebrow. Looking up, she realized it was coming from Ralph rubbing his stomach.

"Gah! I'm gonna really toss my cookies" the green-faced guard moaned.

"Agh! Well, don't toss em on me!" Plotz exclaimed, pressing a hand against Ralph's mouth.

"Well you guys seem okay, mostly," said Nurse. "What about you guys?" she looked at the detectives up ahead. Both of them looked back. "You two look pretty banged up yourself.

"Were peachy keen! It takes more than a few roughhouses to take us out!" Bonkers stated proudly. He quickly put his eyes back on the road.

"Damn right, We're more concerned about your friend Scratchensniff, "said Lucky. Nurse was starting to like this guy. Starting to. Even though he was blunt, he and his friend always pulled through at any cost. "Bonkers told me he found the most important clue all day"

"Scratchy did?" Plotz gripped the front seat upholstery

"Is it the where the Warners have been taken?" Ralph asked.

"Is it Pinky and the Brains innocence?" Nurse added. Bonkers let a cheery laugh.

"That and more!" said Bonkers, "I think we got this whole mystery wrapped… "His cheerful face disappeared when he glanced in the rearview mirror "Lucky, you hear anything?" Lucky looked outside.

"Nope, I… Wait a minute" She joined the others and looked out too. A low rumble came, but the jeep was nowhere in sight. It didn't look like they were still tailing them from behind, and they definitely hadn't pulled up ahead of them. So where would they go? The rumbling got louder. She looked in the window on her right. Nothing. By now the base of the hillside was right next to them.

Oh no…

When she looked to her left, her worst fear came true. It came from the top of the hill. Just a few feet above them, the jeep barreled down upon them, the wheels barely touching the ground. Everyone could do nothing but scream when the 2-ton jeep rammed head on into the car's side.

Nurse's head slammed into the other window. Glass shattered on her cheeks. She could faintly hear the screams and breaking metal swirl around her head. Several thuds pounded at her flailing body. Finally, it stopped. Dazed and out of focus, she felt suspended in the air. The only thing she could really focus on was a few faint voices and her own breathing. A few moments later, she could smell something, but it wasn't gas. It was something just as bad. When she realized what it really was, it was too late. Everything went black.

XXXX

Muguu closed the cap of paint thinner and wiped beads of sweat off his bald head. He took off the mask and gloves he put on earlier. He trudged back to his jeep. Carefully, his bare feet stepped around any stray shards of glass or metal on the ground. The hood of their jeep crumpled up against their cracked windshield. But that was the worst of it. The Limo behind him was a different story. It laid upside down on its crinkled hood. The gray exterior was dented and dinked after the car's 5th turnover. A few of its wheels had fallen off and rolled away. He could still hear brief moans from inside. They were still alive. Not that he cared; toons can take lots of damage. They brought this on themselves.

The psychiatrist was the first person he pulled out. Muguu wished this pest wasn't unconscious, he really wanted to rattle him some more. He carefully searched the psychiatrist's pockets. It had to be in there somewhere. Finally, he felt the worn fabric. Out of his side pocket came Wakko's hat, which was technically his now. Back on top of his head it went.

One by one, Lionel and Siba carelessly pulled the others out of the car, laying them haphazardly on the ground. It took the two of them together to drag Ralph and the fat cop out of the car. They dropped some the heavy cargo right on top of the psychiatrist. The toon's rail thin body disappeared underneath Ralph's guild. Muguu suppressed an urge to chuckle when his cell phone rang. He answered it.

"Hello?"

"Give me an update". His boss answered. Muguu rested an arm against the Jeep's damaged hood.

"We got em. All of them"

"Good Go-What do you mean all?"

The detectives, Mr. Plotz, that guard that ruined us last night, and two other guys…"

"What?! Why'd you get them you idiot?!" he yelled

"Wha-What's wrong?" Muguu flinched. Lionel and Siba, as usual, began to laugh at his sudden speech impediment. Muguu ignored their chuckling.

"It's just the detectives I want! The last thing we need is a missing CEO and a few coworkers stirring up more media attention!"

"What if they call the police?" even though he honestly was less concerned about that and more concerned that he couldn't bring his punching bag Ralph along.

"Muguu its El Paso! What cops do you know that are going to believe a bear, man, and a snake followed them on a high speed chase?" Muguu paused for a moment after hearing that. Then it hit him.

"The ones w-we have?"

"Exactly. Just leave the others there and take off! It's almost time…"

His boss hung up on him. Muguu looked down at the detectives who nearly busted them. The bobcat didn't look so obnoxious sprawled on the ground like this. The cocky fat one didn't look much better either. He wasn't sure why his boss wanted these two. These two didn't look like the solving type. It didn't help that after searching both their hammer spaces, neither of them had anything that could have been considered evidence. No items, no notes, nothing.

"Siba, get your rope and hog tie em. Lionel, help me load the fat one in the back of the jeep. We got a long ride back…"

XXXX

7:30 PM

The rocky and sandy ground faded back into focus. Mr. Plotz slowly lifted his head off the ground. His entire body felt sore and heavy. The last time it felt like this was when the Warners dropped an anvil on his head by mistake at Russell Crowe's birthday party. He looked at the rocky landscape around them. Scraps of metal and glass lay carelessly about. Far off to the side was a road glittering with the occasional passing cars. He looked up at the sky. It was dark blue. They were still in El Paso, but how long had they been out here? Then everything came back.

Those crazy kidnappers, the chase, Scratchensniff! He's unconscious! Where are the others?

Slowly getting to his feet, he searched for them. Thankfully, the rising full moon was helping him out a bit. The first one he spotted was Nurse getting herself off the ground. Red scrapes were all over on her arms and legs. Her hair was an unruly blond mane.

"Nurse! Are you alright…? Ow!" A sharp pain pierced his right shoulder. He clutched it with his left hand. Nurse, quickly noticing this came right over.

"Where does it hurt?" she asked, going into professional mode for a moment.

"Where do ya think?! My shoulder!"

"Can you still move it?" Despite his desire not to, slowly he was able to swing his arm back and forth, not a without a few aches of course. He nodded. "Looks like it might be a sprain, try not to exert yourself."

Plotz noticed the wreckage not far from where they stood. He recognized the wreck as his own Limo. Under normal circumstances, this would have critically injured if not killed a human. But yet, the worst he got was a sprained shoulder.

"Its times like this I'm glad I'm a toon" he muttered. "Wait, where's Scratchensniff? Where's Ralph?"

"Dah, Overs here's!" Ralph called out. The big guard came towards them, minus his security cap. A nice sharp cut decorated the top of his bald head. A bruise welled up on one of his cheeks. He darted all over the place; he pulled back and searched through the loose shrubbery. "Scratchy? Scractensniff? Where are yous?!" he shouted.

"I'm right here" a muffled voice answered. He blinked in surprise.

"Huh? Where?!"

"Here!" he turned around; completely unaware the psychiatrist was stuck to his back. Plotz rolled his eyes.

"I'll help" Nurse came forward and grabbed at Scratchensniff's bald head. Carefully she peeled him off. He flopped onto the ground with a thud.

"Oh, there you is" Ralph's face brightened. Nurse helped Scratchy off the ground. Plots sighed in relief, they were all here. And they were all safe. Scratchy readjusted his cracked lenses. He stared at the discolored burn mark on his arm. Gingerly, he rubbed a finger on it.

"Vhat happened to my, ahh!" he winced after rubbing it too hard.

"Careful, the skin is too sensitive," said Nurse.

"Vait a minute? Where's Lucky? And Bonkers?" he wondered. Plotz's concern returned in full force. Scratchy was right, where were those two? They weren't inside the car, nor were they anywhere nearby. Could they have been…?

"I think I know, look!" Nurse pointed at a trail of tire tracks. They were big and all terrain. They had to had have belonged to those rouge toons inside their jeep. Near the ground was Lucky's shoe and Bonkers cap. "They took them"

"No, No! I'm paying those two by the hour! They can't go now!" Plotz grumbled. Nurse pulled out a cell phone from her pocket.

"Hello, I'd like to report a kidnapping" she paused for a moment. "Lucky Piquel and Bonkers D Bobcat" Another pause. "No No! It's not a joke! It started when we got chased by a bear and a snake-like…" A click came on the other end.

"What the? They hung up!" she said in astonishment. Plotz slapped a hand to his forehead.

"Of course they hung up! El Paso is not used to toon related crimes!" he yelled. Well, that was one thing that remained the same since he left his place. The authorities wouldn't' be much help.

"Vhat happened to the hat?!" Scratchy nervously searched his pockets. "Oh no!" he buried a hand in his face.

"What hat?" Nurse asked.

"The one I took from that bear! He had…!"

"We just barely avoided getting killed and your worried about a hat?! Focus on something more important!" Plotz yelled at him. Was Scratchy serious right now? Once again he nearly got killed because someone took something that didn't belong to them?!

"Alright then" Scratchy spoke, narrowing his eyes at him "Vhat was that contract about Plotz?"

"Excuse me?" Plotz didn't take kindly to Scratchy looking at him like that.

"The paper Mr. Muguu pulled from your pocket, vhat was it?"

"Oh…that" The CEO's heart sank. That was something he hoped they would have forgotten about. He felt around his pocket for the document. Sweat beaded on his head when he noticed, it was missing. That crazy bear, he remembered. Muguu had snatched his copy of the contract from him back at the store.

"Plotz, what's going on?" Nurse asked.

"Mr. Plotz, just tell us vhat happened," Scratchy said. His three coworkers stared at him, patiently awaiting an answer. A heavy sigh came out. He knew was going to have to tell them eventually. But it was going to be a little harder now that he didn't have the contract on him.

"Last night when I was looking for Slim, I ran into the CEO of Globbwobber studios, and he offered me a contract. It was for a partnership. I'd be able to raise money to cover damages for the studio. And he'd make money to grow on his own. So, I signed it."

"So what happens to us?"

"Well, you all were supposed to be reassigned..."

"But, the Warners. Everything we've done for the last few days? All of us volunteered for this. And, you did too…"

"Don't make as bad as it seems, it was only just in case you…" Plotz couldn't bring himself to finish that statement.

"In case we failed?" Nurse finished his sentence. He was startled at how blunt she was. It really was as bad as it seemed. The pained expressions from Nurse and Scratchy stared down at him. Plotz couldn't help but feel like a convict in an interrogation room. Normally this type of confrontation wouldn't have bothered him back at his office. It would have been just business. But this time, it wasn't. His head poked up when he heard a sniffle. Ralph who was eerily silent for a while had his back to him. He turned around, his pink eyes were soaked with tears.

"You lied to us boss. You lied to me" he croaked tearfully. If he didn't feel bad already, seeing Ralph hurt like this made it 10 times worse.

"Ralph, you wouldn't understand, there was nothing I could do" The guard sniffed as he wiped his eyes, his eyebrows lowered.

"Yeah? Well, I don't believe none of that." His voice was unusually harsh. Hearing the guard respond to him like that didn't sit well in his stomach. Ralph had no idea what he had to deal with, and yet he had the nerve to discredit him? Suddenly he regretted his own sympathy. Naturally, he responded.

"Oh, Get off my case!" Plotz spat back, his voice straining to stay within mid volume. "I was doing what any sensible person in my position would! I was willing to risk everything I could to keep from losing Warner Bros!"

"You was being phony was what you were doing!" Ralph replied, matching his tone. "You said you wanted to come but you really didn't, you said you thought we find them but you didn't, you said nothing happened last night, but something did. You signed us off without telling!" Plotz could feel his own face burn red.

"And what if I did?!" he felt his own voice rise. "Look at what came of this whole ordeal over the past two days! The Warners are still gone, Pinky and the Brain are good as guilty, we don't where the hell anybody is, or how to get home! What else was I supposed to do?!"

"You could have waited until we…" Ralph turned his head away. Plotz marched towards him, grabbing at his shirt tail. Being insulted was not something he took lightly.

"Wait for what?! Till we came up with the same answers we've been getting since day one? Waited till the studio shut down?! Waited till when the press asked why I formed a ragtag crew with a Nurse, a psychiatrist, and a damn overgrown lummox…?!

Thwack!

It was quick and loud. Plotz sputtered as the back of his head slammed into the dusty dirt ground. When he got up, a throbbing pain spread across his entire nose. He hastily covered it. It hurt just as bad as his sprained shoulder. Slowly he removed his hands. No blood. Scratchy looked on with his mouth gaped open. Nurse gasped as she covered her own mouth. Incredulously he looked up at the guard whose expression matched his own. Ralph stared down at his own balled fist. He quickly un balled it.

"I- I…" He stammered, his eyes darting to Plotz's face. Plotz clenched his fists as he got up. This time he crossed a line. He could feel Nurse's hand pulling him back by of his collar.

"You, you struck me. You ungrateful tub of lard! Why I oughta…!"

"You oughta what?!" Ralph shouted back, his voice echoed for miles out in the desert. Plotz stumbled backward to the ground. For the first time, Ralph matched his own rage, barring an intense glare down at him, teeth clenched together.

"You oughta what? Fire me? Lay me off?! Just like you were going to do anyways?"

"Where'd you hear about that?!" Plotz voice lowered in intensity. How did he know about that?

"From you! The night before the fire!"

Plotz had nearly forgotten about that. He remembered the conversation he had with Corden, and realized it must have sounded a lot worse to Ralph. No wonder he was upset, Ralph thought he was going to get rid of him from the beginning. Which wasn't really true, especially now more than ever.

"Ralph please calm down! He probably didn't mean it." Scratchy jumped in front off him.

Oh shut up Doc, he wasn't! I was there when he said it!" Ralph effortlessly pushed him aside and marched towards Plotz.

"It's true, I really didn't mean it!" said Plotz.

"You're lying! I bet you was lying about the other stuff too…" He knew he was referring to their talk earlier that afternoon. This was getting personal now.

"Ralph…" Plotz lowered his voice.

"Well, you don't need any overgrown lummox like me around!" the guard's voice broke. He ripped the badge from his chest and threw it down. A piece of his shirt still clung to the badge as it clattered on the ground. He stormed off.

"Oh god… Ralph! You have to believe me! I can fix this!" Plotz called out to him. Ralph gave one last look at him, his pained expression weakening for a bit.

"How cans I believe you, if you didn't believe in me?" He stared for a few seconds before turning his back on him. Ralph silently trudged away from them and right towards the glittering freeway leading back to the city. Plotz was at a loss for words. This was probably one the last things he'd ever expected hear from him. And what was worse after realizing the horrible things he said, he drove him to do that. Scratchy began to follow after Ralph.

"Scratchy where are you going?! Talk some sense into him!"

"I'm doing what we signed up for" He calmly answered. "It's not like we have much to lose now…"

"You too?!" Was he really going to walk out on him too? Scratchensniff was supposed to be the reasonable one here! This day was just getting worse and worse. "Scratchensniff, you have to…!"

"Mr. Plotz please!" he answered sternly. Hearing Scratchy be this confident was really rubbing him the wrong way. This was not the same psychiatrist he knew all these years. "I understand why you did what you did, you had a mission, and I cannot fault you for that. I was just foolish to think we were a part of that too".

Without another word, he went off in the same direction as Ralph did.

"Scratchensniff… ouch!" Plotz realized he moved too quickly when another jolting ache spread from his shoulder. Suddenly something cool and moist landed on it, it helped relieve the pain. Nurse had placed a small ice pack on him.

"Here, hold this on your shoulder and your nose every few minutes" she stated formally.

"Nurse please I have to talk some sense into those two…"

"Mr. Plotz, neither Scratchensniff nor Ralph are in a good condition to talk right now" She countered politely. "Besides I think you've done more than enough help for all of us." There was a tiny bit of resentment in her voice as she said that. Plotz didn't bother to protest at this point.

She trotted off in the same direction the other two had gone and disappeared in the cloudy night sky. Plotz hung his head. Ralph's badge laid there on the ground. He picked it up and brushed it off, the Warner Bros symbol glittering in bold letters. The investigation had failed just like he thought it would. His fail-safe partnership with J.W. Globwobber would go into effect within a 24-hour time limit. And judging how much time had come and gone, he'd already passed it.

And yet, he still felt like the biggest loser right now. His duty as CEO to organize and keep any situation under control. But now, he felt he was no longer in control. Plotz could do nothing but sigh as he stood alone in the dry desert heat of El Paso.


	13. Regrouping

XXXX

8:40 PM

Scratchensniff's tired feet stepped onwards. Ralph was still several yards ahead of him. It was a good thing they were only a mile away from the city line. He wasn't sure how far he could go on. The soreness in his feet helped him ignore the slight ache in his left hip. He looked behind to see Nurse not far behind. Further back, he could see Plotz trailing after them in a distance. He was barely a blip on the horizon from his viewpoint, which was fine for now. None of them really felt like talking to him right now. Scratchy really wasn't sure what to make of Plotz's decision. On one hand, he understood the amount of pressure he must have felt to make it. On the other hand, why did he bother with this investigation if all he would do is sign the studio up for a partnership?

Pushing those thoughts out of his mind, he heard someone trot right next to him. It was Nurse. Her expression had relaxed from the tense confrontation with Plotz earlier.

"You okay?" she asked. It was kind of ironic. She had several cuts and bruises all over her arms and legs. He shivered a bit when he saw a bruise Siba had given her, around her neck.

"Yes, I guess so" he replied. He glanced at the big cut near the top of her forehead. It was partially hidden by her now unkempt mane of blond hair. "What about you? That cut looks pretty bad." By instinct, she pulled out a bandage from her hammer space and wrapped it around her forehead.

"Looks can be deceiving. A cut will heal quicker than a thinner splash" He briefly looked down at the discolored rash on his arm. Nurse had bandaged it back up again not too long ago. He made a memo that he would never come in contact with that stuff again. At this point, they had just passed the city line. The hills and valleys gave way to streetlights and Spanish missionary style buildings. Ralph still hadn't stopped yet. "How long do you think he'll keep going?" she asked, looking ahead.

"Until he finds a place to sit down." He replied. Sure enough, it came sooner than expected. Up ahead, a small dinner was slapped against a brown adobe-style hotel. The most notable features was the neon sign of a certain famous rooster and the boldly lettered sign below it.

"Foghorn Leghorn's Barnyard Diner" Nurse read. Scratchensniff was vaguely familiar that this was one of the rooster's most recent entrepreneurial schemes. Up until now, he'd only seen them in California. "I didn't know he opened one this far out."

Ralph slumped down on a bench near the front door. Scratchy took a seat, with what little space there was, right next to him.

"Ralph, are you alright?" There was no response. He was kicking himself right now for not dealing with Ralph earlier like he should have. He'd been so preoccupied with his own problems, he ignored Ralph's. "I am here to help you, Ralph. Vhat happened back there?" Still no response. He wasn't used to him being this stubborn. "It will be very helpful for both of us if you please talk to me" After a few more seconds of silence, Nurse came over and sat on the other side.

"Ralph, what do you say we talk over dinner?" she, proposed. Surprisingly, the guard actually looked up.

"But we ain't had breakfast or lunch" the guard answered weakly.

"So we'll do catch up, come on." She managed to pull him off the bench and lead him inside. Incredulously, Scratchy got up and followed after them. He sent Plotz a brief message on his phone to let them know where they were. Even though they weren't speaking right now, they couldn't just abandon him.

"How did you do that?" he muttered.

"Scratchensniff, if there's one thing I learned growing up, is that the way to a man is his stomach. A bit of food in all of us would do us some good" she replied. Although he questioned the truthfulness of that statement, he quickly let it go. With a shrug, he and the others went inside.

Upon entering, he noticed the place was only half full. The crowd was an integrated mix of both toons and humans alike. It was the closest to feeling like they were back in Burbank. He was too preoccupied with this to notice Nurse setting an order.

"…Table for four? Right this way" a human waitress answered. She guided them to a table at the far end of the diner. When they sat down, Ralph took up one side while Scratchy and Nurse took the other. After making their orders, Scratchy waited patiently for Ralph to respond. So far, nothing yet.

The gang didn't talk much after getting their food. It was pretty much regular brunch food. Steak, eggs, waffles, standard stuff. Scratchy had to admit, this was a good idea. He felt a lot better after having something in his stomach. The ache in his hip seemed to fade away for the moment. None of them hadn't really eaten aside from a brief breakfast and pit stop on the ride into town. Despite his sullen mood, he managed to scarf down three stacks of pancakes. Dare he say it, his appetite almost rivaled that of Wakko's. Ralph, on the other hand, had eaten nowhere near as much as he did. His head was practically glued down to the table. Scratchy still continued to wait.

When they finished, Ralph at first said nothing as he continued to look down. He pulled out his wallet. Inside was a string of photographs, some of family members, others of the Warners. He pursed his thumb on the first one. It was a black and white picture of a heavy-set man. Nurse looked over at it.

"I didn't know you wore a goatee," she said. The guard looked up for a moment, shaking his head.

"I didn't wear no goat, my pa did though" he replied, pointing at the picture.

"That's your dad? You look just like him!" she exclaimed. Scratchy hadn't thought about Ralph's father in a very long time. He didn't know him well, but his son sure did look a lot like him. This explained why they used Ralph in the flashback intro for the show's premiere. He could hear it now.

"… _the trio ran amuck throughout the studio... Until their capture…"_

"Yeah, when I grew up, there was nothing more I wanted to be was a security guard just like him. To meets the peoples, know the stars… Now it looks like I won't be able to do that no more."

"Don't say that! Plotz didn't say we're being let go, just reassigned"

"Yeah, but will it be the same one? Why should I give up a job I like, for something I won't like?" he hung his head down again. For once, he had good point. Plotz had signed a partnership. Unless he and Globwobbler were on good terms. There was no guarantee that when this was over, they'd go back to working at their old jobs again. "I just thought, that when I helped find the Warners, then maybe he'd change his mind about me. Besides, that Globwobber guy probably won't even need me... He'll get someone who's better, smarter than I am" his voice began to break. Scratchy wasn't used to seeing Ralph be so personal before. Then again, not many folks aside from him had ever bothered to talk to him for this long. "Those goons were right, I is a worthless fat slob"

"That's not true!" Nurse protested. "You helped lead us to the kidnappers, you found one of our biggest clues, and you saved Plotz, whether he appreciated it or not." Ralph's frown shrunk away for a moment. "Don't let anyone say you're worthless, because you're not" Both the guard and Scratchy were silent at first. They never seen her so charged before.

"What about what Plotz said, he thinks it too…"

"Oh, the heck with what Plotz thinks!" Nurse got up from her seat. "What about what _you_ think Ralph?" she pressed on. "Do you think the Warners are still out there?" Ralph didn't say at first. Scratchy was surprised he never bothered to ask this question. It was almost a revelation. No ever really asked what Ralph thought, mainly because everyone assumed he had none, to begin with.

"Yes," the guard tilted his head up.

"Do you think we'll find them?" she continued. Ralph paused for a moment.

"Yes?" he replied. Scratchy sensed a bit of doubt in his tone, now it was time for him to cut in. This had to be put in a way for him to understand.

"Ralphie, You've chased the Vanrers haven't you?" he asked him. Ralph finally looked at him.

"Yeah" he stated matter of fact.

"And you've caught them before too, haven't you?"

"Well, not all the time. I've had a dry streak" he guiltily shrugged his shoulders.

"So, you still keep trying right?" Scratchy pressed on excitedly. He barely realized he was getting caught in the moment.

"Yeah, but it's my jobs to catch them" Ralph straightened up in his seat.

"Doesn't matter, there's a part of you that vants it right? So think of this as one big chase, but now the Wanrers want _you_ to find t _hem_!

"Yeah?" he responded eagerly.

"You want to disappoint them?" Scratchy felt his voice rise a little.

"No!" Ralph shook his head defiantly.

"So, do you think you can find them?!"

"I do's!" Ralph jumped from his seat. Scratchy did likewise.

"I don't believe you! Do you?!"

"I do!" he shouted, punching a fist into the air. Both of them realized a few other people had stopped and stared. Embarrassed, both of them quickly sat down. He looked at Nurse, a proud smile spread across her face. This was what she was trying to do earlier. This was the big thing Ralph needed right now, a confidence boost.

"Then it's settled…" said Nurse. "We're all going to find them, the three of us"

_Right, the three of us..._

"Doc?" Ralph answered.

"Yes, Ralph?"

"I- Is sorry I yelled at you earlier."

"No, it's okay" Scratchy responded quickly. "I knew you weren't angry at me." The guard looked down at his hand, the one he struck Plotz with. "Ralph, he didn't mean those things he said…"

"If he didn't mean it, why did he say it?" the guard looked at him.

"Sometimes people say and do things they don't really mean. Like you. You didn't _mean_ to hit him, didn't you?" Ralph continued to look down at his fist.

"No. I didn't mean to, my hand was just shaking and then Plotz kept yelling and then…" he didn't have the strength to finish the sentence. Not that he blamed him. Although he had to admit, seeing Plotz go down like that gave him a tiny sense of satisfaction.

_Oh God, I'll have to schedule an appointment for myself one day._

"Just give him a moment to calm down. When he comes back, well tell him about our decision"

"And if he doesn't like it?" Nurse cut in. Scratchy felt uncomfortable saying these next few words. Despite what Plotz believed, they were a lot closer than he thought. Sure, they had little to work on now, but that was better than nothing. But also, this was the first time he and the others made a stand against him.

"Then we'll keep going, with or without him."

"Wait a minute," said Nurse. "Didn't Bonkers say you found an important clue?"

_The email._

Scratchy sat straight up and immediately reached for his phone. He was surprised he had almost forgotten about it. He kept it in his hammerspace on his left side pocket. When he reached for it, he felt something else as well. Ignoring it for the moment, he pulled out his phone and showed the email to the others.

"When did theys send this?" Ralph asked.

"Yesterday" Scratchy answered.

"Well we know one thing" Nurse stated. "Wherever they are, they have internet access. If only we had someone like Brain here. He could have helped track its IP address…"

Scratchy rubbed his sore hip. Something else was definitely in his hammerspace, but what? He dug both hands deep inside. Something hard and worn rubbed against his fingertips. He could feel its thick pages.

_Pages?_

Slowly he pulled the mystery item out and plopped it on the table. The aching in his hip had instantly vanished. When he looked at it, he realized it looked vaguely familiar. It was a large red photo album.

"What's that?" Ralph asked. Scratchy flipped open the book. Inside were several pictures of the plane crash, the shoe Ralph found, Slim, along with several notes from Lucky pasted inside. Even though he'd only seen it a few times, he knew exactly who this book belonged to.

"This- This is Bonkers book," said Scratchy.

"What? When did he give this to you?" Nurse grabbed the book in excitement.

"He didn't. At least I don't think he did..." Scratchy replied skeptically.

"But why would he give it to you? Didn't he need it?" Ralph scratched his head. It was a good question. How did he get ahold of that book? He barely paid it any mind throughout most of the trip. Did it fall out of Bonkers hands during the crash? No, Muguu and his gang might have seen it. It wouldn't have just slipped inside his hammerspace.

When Nurse flipped to the final pages, she quickly handed it back to Scratchy. Inside on the last page was a single note.

_You need this more than I do. I'm counting on ya Scratchy! Bonkers._

"I think I know vhy" said Scratchy. "Because we veren't the goon's target tonight. It vas him and Lucky. That's vhy they left us in the desert. They'll think dey have all the answers…!"

"When all of them are with us!" Nurse exclaimed. A wave of dread came over Scratchy as he mused over the danger those two were now in. And yet, he felt more determined now than ever to find them. The Warners too.

XXXX

9:00 PM

It's a common cliché in movies that whenever things go bad, it always rains. Mr. Plotz wished that were true right about now. Despite the fact that it was past sundown, the air was still pretty warm. The dry desert air was making him sweat.

" _What?! Are you and the others okay?!_ " JW Globwobber cried out on the phone. Plotz had stopped to call him as soon as he reached the city limits. He told him everything that happened in the past few days, the investigation, the chase, and his contract copy being destroyed. J.W. was understandably shocked.

"They're fine, all except our detectives…" Plotz replied.

" _Oh, this is awful! This is exactly what I was afraid of, Please tell me you're planning on leaving tonight!_ "

"Globwobber I don't even have a car right now! Of course not tonight! Besides, I still have a few things to figure out down here."

" _Plotz, you barely avoided getting killed and you're worried about 'figuring things out'? You need to come back here so we can get this whole situation handled properly_!" Plotz rubbed his head. He could hear the agitation in his voice.

"And we will! Just give me until tomorrow afternoon. You handle what you can at home, let me handle what I can here!" He already felt bad, Globwobber worrying about him wasn't helping in the slightest.

" _Alright, alright fine"_ JW tone eased out for a moment _. "But please, let me know when you're coming back. I know you feel pretty lousy right now, but this is why it's best to have a Plan_ B."

"Right… a Plan B" Plotz mused over his decision.

" _As soon as you get back, I'll send over a copy of the contract_ "

"Thank you, Goodbye"

Plotz sighed as he put away the phone. He laid out on a bench that was directly across the street from the diner Scratchy and the others went into. He would have gone inside, but he felt like he wasn't completely welcome.

So he was alone, just as he had wanted. Scratchensniff, Nurse, and Ralph were out of the picture too. Just like he wanted. So why did he feel like a huge jackass? Lucky and Bonkers were now out of the picture as well. That made 7 missing people now. The Warners, Pinky and the Brain, and now them. It just couldn't get any worse.

"Please tell me this is a mirage" a cranky voice answered. Apparently, it could. He got up with a start to see a familiar face staring at him. Of all the faces he had to run into tonight, El Paso picked this one. "Can you believe it? Over a thousand clubs in this dusty town and not one of them sell prune juice!"

"Slappy?! What are you doing here?" he replied. The old squirrel casually leaned a shoulder against an arm handle of the bench. "Where's Skippy?"

"Where do you think? School! Normally I'd be helping track the missing Warners, but since _someone_ put a plug on that, I decided to take a brief vacation" was her simple reply.

"I thought I told you to stay back in Burbank!" Plotz chided. When he said that everyone should stay where they were, he meant that. She slung her walking cane over her shoulder.

"You know your rules have never stopped me before Plotz"

"Ugh, that's true"

"The bigger question is, what are _you_ doing here?" she narrowed her eyes at him. "Last time I checked you weren't the vacationing type."

"Oh, it's a long story"

"Ah, I've got time to kill" Slappy pulled him off his seat. "Let's walk first. I need the exercise."

He took another look at the diner. He sent a brief message to Scratchy, letting him know he'd be back in a few minutes. He hoped they'd still be there by the time they got back.

Hardly anyone gave them a passing glance as they strolled down the sidewalk. He did his job to avoid contact while pulling his shirt collar over his neck. Although some people stared, none of them started to heckle him. This actually surprised him. Back when he used to live here, he couldn't go anywhere without being heckled. He suddenly felt ridiculous for feeling self-conscious. Most if not all the people he knew back then were probably dead. This entire place seemed so alien, but yet vaguely familiar.

Slappy finished their walk by sitting down at another bench near a street corner. She'd barely spoken the entire time, a divergent from her cranky attitude. Something caught his eye, and he quickly realized exactly where he was. Off to the left was a missionary style chapel, just like the one he knew. And faintly off in a distance, he could hear a rumbling train. Then there was the actual bench they sat on, it was right behind a coffee shop. He saw the address.

_345\. My apartments address…_

He was amazed that he still remembered this after all these years. This place had changed so much. All the dilapidated apartments were replaced with condos and tiny shops. This was where he was born, Right at the corner of Albany Street and Rivera Way. He glanced at the street sign at the corner. The opposite street was still called Albany, but the one they were on had changed.

"Esther Way?" he muttered.

"Are you gonna talk to yourself or talk to me? I want to hear _everything_ " Slappy crossed her arms. Out of all the people he knew on the Warner lot, he'd known Slappy the longest. And he knew she meant it when she said that. If there any bit important information left out, He'd know shed make him pay for it later.

So for the next several minutes, Plotz spent the whole time recapping everything that happened over the past two days. This included confessing the smaller details that he left out when talking to J.W. The investigation, the attacks, the clues, the contract, and of course everyone else's reaction when they found out. The whole time, Slappy said nothing. She kept a stoic expression, not letting on what she thought about it just yet. When he finished, she said nothing at first. Why hadn't she ripped into him like he thought he would? A small frown appeared, one that was quickly replaced by a snarky grin.

"Depressing, yet strangely amusing"

"What's so amusing about this?!" Plotz's burned for a moment. He was being completely honest about himself and she thought it was amusing?

"I think it's _very_ amusing, you were worried this whole time this whole investigation, would go under because of them. When really, it was all you" Plotz's expression soured, if this was her idea of making him feel better, it wasn't working.

"Thanks, for stating the obvious" he bristled sternly.

"Hey, What do ya want from me, I'm a squirrel, not a shrink" she snapped back. Her irritation faltered when she noticed his swollen red nose.

"You, know, normally I'd deck you for being a moron, but it looks like someone beat me to it."

"Ralph did it"

"Really?" Slappy seemed genuinely impressed. "I didn't know the lummox had it in him."

"He's not a lummox!" Slappy seemed a bit taken aback by his response. He stopped in his tracks "…I didn't know either"

"So, what are you going to do?" she asked bluntly. He shook his head. This was something he hated having to admit.

"I, I don't know"

"What do ya mean you don't know?"

"I don't know what to do now! Do I just go home and forget all this? Or finish what I started?" The squirrel shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know, I don't care. Whatever you do is no skin off my nose. But if you want my suggestion, I'd start off with one thing"

"What is it?"

"Apologize"

The word stuck out at him like a sore thumb. He hardly ever apologized. In fact, he'd done it so little he'd almost forgotten that it was part of the English vocabulary.

"Slappy you know I'm not good at apolo-"

"Ouch!" Slappy winced. Plotz jumped back when realized he'd accidentally stepped on her tail. She shot a brief glare at him.

"Ooh, sorry" he quickly responded. He paused as soon as he realized what he said. Slappy's face brightened at hearing that.

"See? What are you talking about? You're learning already!"

"But Slappy, the things I did, what I said to them, and Ralph…"

"Ah, the nurse and that p-sychiatrist will warm up to you in a while." Slappy waived off his concern. "And don't worry about Ralph, he's a bigger softie than the Stay Puffed Marshmallow Man. It's like I say, all things tend to heal with time, except hernias. You need a doctor for that"

"Slappy, it won't matter what I tell them, they'll still hate me."

"Only one way to find out" She got up from the bench. "Hate to cut this short, but I got a ride to catch. Later, Durante" As she continued down the street, she passed under the street sign. Albany Street and Esther way. How fitting, after everything that's happened, he was back on this miserable street.

"I've been nothing but a blowhard control freak, just like my father" Plotz muttered. Slappy turned around. Had she really heard him?

"Plotz, I've known you for 50 years, and I know you're nothing like your old man. Because a putz like him would have never hired me. You always gave folks a chance, and you always had a plan. That's why I like you, Plotz…" She turned around and continued down the opposite side of the street. Not looking back she waved her cane in the air. "That's why I've always liked you…"Without another word, she disappeared down the street.

Plotz was stunned at her final statement. She had actually given him a genuine compliment, not that he felt he deserved it, but still. He'd always had a deep respect for Slappy. While she could be just as destructive and zany as the Warners, there was a sense of control and maturity that the others lacked. It was the exact reason he hired her in the first place. She was wrong though, right now he had no plan.

_What to do? What to do?_

But, what could he do? Go home? File another missing person's report? Even if he returned home and continued with the partnership as planned, then these two days would have been for nothing. Then there was Scratchensniff, Nurse, and Ralph. All three of them took time out to help him, and this was how he repaid them? Even if he could pull some strings for them to keep their jobs, he wasn't sure that would be enough.

And then there was the missing Warners, the whole reason they were out here to begin with. He did finally know who was involved in their kidnapping. He knew the henchmen, but who was the mastermind? All the evidence that came seemed to point to the mice. And all of it seemed plausible. He knew Brain's intelligent self was fully capable of pulling off something like this. The mice knew where to go for supplies. And they _had_ signed off on that purchase of paint thinner. Both their signatures were right on the document…

 _Wait a minute, both their signatures?_ Pinky _and the Brain's signatures?_

Something clicked in the back of his head. He was bit angry he hadn't noticed it earlier. Everything started to make a bit more sense. He knew what he needed to do now. Plotz immediately headed back towards the diner, hoping the others were still there. He'd give them another chance, hopefully, they'd give him one as well. And the whole time he ran, his father's lasts words echoed in his mind.

" _Know what your most valuable assets are"_

XXXX

9:50 PM

It was close to ten by the time Scratchesniff, Nurse, and Ralph waited outside the diner. Scratchy was getting concerned, Plotz had been gone a lot longer than he said he would. They planned to look for him within the next half hour. In the meantime, he and others continued with small talk to pass the time. Ralph would talk about the different types of people that came into the lot, Nurse shared her info on toon anatomy, but the real mover was Scratchy's accounts of the Warner's misadventures. He rarely got a chance to share them. Plotz highly discouraged him to ever talk about them. Most of these stories were completely new to Ralph and Nurse. He had just finished talking about a man by the name of Pip Pumhandle.

"…so he actually managed to bore them to insanity? Nurse laughed, hearing the full story for the first time.

"Yes, so much they asked me if they could file a restraining order" He pulled out a notepad from his hammerspace. He flipped to a list on the second page.

"What's that?" Ralph asked.

"A list of people who managed to 'compromise' their insanity"

"Huh?"

"It's the only guys that managed to drive them crazy" Nurse corrected. She looked over at the list. "It's a lot longer than I thought" The list continued a huge roll call, Mr. Director, Maid Marian, Elmyra, Baloney the Dinosaur, he alone was responsible for several therapy sessions, and a few other unfamiliar names. Ralph's eyebrows rose at one of them.

"John K?" Ralph asked.

"Creator of Ren and Stimpy, one time when he said a few unkind words about their show, they decided to pay him a visit."

"Did they hurt him?" Nurse wondered.

"I don't know, to this day they still won't tell me exactly what happened. But what I did find out was this, it turned out he's a huge Bob Clampett fan like them. And in Yakko's words…" he cleared his throat, a sneer wrenched across his face. "He's good, he's reaaal good."

"Gosh!" Ralph exclaimed.

"Doctor, that sounded just like him!" said Nurse. Scratchy wasn't sure to be proud or frightened by that.

"Really? Well when you hang around this voice for long enough, it's bound to rub off on somebody!" Scratchy continued his impression. "Hello, Nurse!" Nurse gave him a playful smack on his knee.

"Boys, no self-control!" Nurse mimicked Dot's voice. It was spot on.

"Girls, no sense of humor!" Scratchy spat back. Pretty soon he found himself laughing. For some reason, it felt really good to laugh after a very long time.

"Ah, hey! Cans I try that?" Ralph got out of his seat.

"Knock yourself out" Nurse answered in her regular voice. Ralph cleared his throat and held up something imaginary in his hand.

"Oy, this pizza is really faboo!" he spoke in a stilted Scouse accent. Scratchy and Nurse stood deadpan for a brief moment. If it wasn't for the faboo part, he would not have recognized that as a Wakko impression. "How was that?"

"Uh… why don't you try again? Something a little easier?" Scratchy responded, still not dropping the Yakko act. The guard rested a finger under his lip. His face brightened when something came to him.

"Wait I got somethings else!" Ralph got down on all fours and started running around in circles like a dog.

"Pluto? No, Buttons..?" Nurse pondered. Scratchy was trying his best to keep a straight face. And he was losing. Ralph abruptly froze right in Scratchy's face, his tongue hanging freely from his mouth.

"Hi, Definitely Hi" out of Ralph's mouth came the voice of Runt the Dog. Suddenly both Scratchy and Nurse burst with laughter. Ralph got back on his two legs. He sucked in his chest and smoothed back his nonexistent hair. When he spoke, his voice rose a few octaves.

"Come on Runt! We got a mystery to solve!" This got Scratchy and the Nurse laughing some more.

"Fred Jones?!" Nurse clapped. "Stop Ralph! Stop!" Scratchy agreed this was too much.

"Wait! One more!" Ralph let his chest deflate as he put his hands behind his back. Squatting down to the ground, he put a sour grimace on his face. Scratchy knew exactly who he was supposed to be before he said anything.

"Ralph, get those Warners out of here right now!" Plotz's voice came out of his mouth. At this point Scratchy had fallen out of his seat, howling with laughter at this point. Ralph gratefully bowed to his audience.

"Heh, that's pretty good"

"Yes, it vas very good, Ralph" Scratchy got back up. This time in his regular voice.

"I didn't say that," Ralph said in his own voice as well. Both Scratchy and Nurse froze when they realized someone was behind him. Ralph turned around and his smile melted away from his face. Plotz had his hands in his pocket, a resigned half grin on his face.

"Plotz where were you?" Scratchy asked. The aged toon rubbed his eyes.

"I've had to do a bit of thinking, and I've…" he fumbled for a moment. "I, I made some poor choices, in bad judgment. And I almost cost myself a lot." Scratchy was wondering if he was really all right. He rarely ever talked to them like this. "I know you all are probably still mad at me, and I totally understand."

"What are you saying, Plotz?" Nurse asked. Despite her criticism of him, she sounded very concerned as well.

"I'm saying, that I want us to finish what we signed up for." Scratchy shot a look at Nurse. Both her eyebrows rose in befuddlement. Scratchy's eyebrows, if he had any, would have done the same. Just a while ago, Plotz was certain on giving up on this journey. So what happened? Had Plotzgone crazy?

"You're suggesting we should reform our search party?"

"I'm not suggesting a damn thing Nurse. That's exactly what I'm saying we should do." An indignant smile spread across his face. Scratchy looked on, slack-jawed. This didn't feel right.

_Its official, Mr. Plotz has gotten crazy._

"Why?" Ralph spoke up. His foul expression hadn't changed since Plotz arrived. He turned his back to him "You signed that contract with Globbobber…"

"Forget about Globwobber, I'll deal with him later" Plotz waived off his statement. "After all, Scratchensniff was right, we don't have much to lose now" Scratchy could have sworn his brain was still frazzled from the accident. Did Plotz actually listen to him, and commend him for something?

"But, you'll have the studio, isn't that what you wanted?" Ralph turned around, his frown faltering a bit. Plotz paused for a moment as he rubbed his head.

"Not really... sure I'll have that but… I won't have… you three." Scratchy and the others could barely do anything but stare at Plotz in silence. "You three have done more than I could have ever asked you. And I never asked any of you. A- and I just wanted to say I'm…" he pursed his lips together as he attempted to say what was coming next. It was as if an invisible line of glue was breaking away from his mouth. "I'm- sss… so"

_He isn't really about to say what I think he is about to say, is he?_

"Plotz are you sure you're feeling alright?" Scratchy asked. Plotz stamped his foot.

"Shut up Scratchensniff! Can't you see I'm trying to say I'm sorry?!" The CEO blinked in stunning realization at what he said. "It's true, I really am sorry."

Everyone else's mouth's gaped open in shock. It was probably the last thing any of them expected him to say. Scratchy knew he rarely apologized, but whenever he did, he always meant it every single time. Plotz stared up at them, full of confusion.

"Why are you all staring- at Ugh!" Plotz squeaked. His face was suddenly buried into Ralph's chest. The guard had pulled him into a large bear hug.

"Aww..! I'm sorry too, boss!" Ralph cried out. A tear streamed down his face.

"Let go of me, you big oaf! I'm not done yet!" Plotz's muffled voice yelled. The guard quickly dropped him. "Scratchensniff, you remember that document back at Notts and Mils, the one that said Pinky and the Brain signed for paint thinner?"

"Yes?" Scratchy wondered.

"Did you see a signature for _both_ mice?"

"Yes, why" Scratchy wasn't sure what Plotz was getting at.

"Scratchy I'm surprised you don't see what's wrong with that! It's so simple, I don't why we didn't think of it earlier!"

"What is?" Nurse cut in.

"Nurse, when's the last you saw _Pinky_ sign anything?"

"Never, I thought he couldn't write…"

"Exactly! In every contract those two signed for me, only Brain signed his name! Pinky, that idiot, always signed with a paw print dipped in ink! And did you see that?!"

"No!" Scratchy realized. Plotz's statements now made sense. Suddenly a whole new opening burst in this entire mystery.

"That signature was forged, but by who?" Plotz wondered.

"Well, what do yous think we should do now?" Ralph asked. A grin spread across the CEO's face. For the first time in the entire trip, Plotz seemed absolutely determined to figure out this whole ordeal. Scratchensniff was glad he was finally on board for real this time. Although he was willing to continue on as a group of three, he really didn't like the idea of splitting up. They started this journey as a gang of four, and they would finish it as a gang of four.

"I think we need to pay Notts and Mils _one_ more visit…"

XXXX

Globwobbler Studios 10:10 PM

Another day finished.

Larry Paulsen exited from the elevator on the 5th floor of Globwobbler's office building. After spending endless hours of organizing and signing papers, the time to clock out was always welcome.

_So this is what 4 years of studying Computer Science got me..._

Normally he'd be on his way to the studio lot right now. But he'd forgotten his trusty IPad. When he reached his own office door, he nearly dropped his briefcase. Down the hall was his bosses' office, the door was ajar. And someone was standing in the doorway. A man about his height but with much thicker build than him stood near the door. Knowing that Globwobber always shut down for good after closing time, this sent off several red flags. He got the courage to step forward as the stranger put a hand on the door handle.

"Excuse me"

"Oh, hi…" the man turned around in shock. He feigned a small smile. "I'm just here for a private tour"

"Our studio doesn't do tours after 8, especially in private offices" Larry stated stiffly. The mystery man stood there rustling his short black hair. This didn't look good. He wondered how long it would take security to get here. Larry's grip tightened on his briefcase, he hoped if this encounter turned ugly, it would pack a punch. "Do you work here?" A brief pause was his response.

"That's not important. I just need…" the other person replied. A twang of irritation crept into his voice.

"Sir, if you're not an employee I'm going to have to ask you to…"

"Larry!" his boss's voice growled. Larry could smell the cigar smoke before he even turned around. When he did, a stern frown laid before him. JW was always anal when it came to leaving on time.

"Sir, what are you still doing here?"

"I got an emergency call, what are _you_ still doing here?"

"I was just getting my belongings sir when this stranger was trying to come into your office." Globwobber arched an eye at the man before him. He took the cigar out of his mouth.

"Is that right?"

"I'm actually here for a 9:00 appointment, but you know how bad LA's traffic is" the man chuckled, sounding more lax than earlier. Larry didn't buy it, and the sneer on JW's face proved he didn't buy it either.

"And your name?" he crossed his arms.

"Daryl L. Corden But I just go by Corden for short"

"Ah yes!" JW's sneer melted away. "The gentleman who spoke with me earlier this week, I almost forgot. You know you should have called if you felt you were running late" He held out his hand for Corden to shake it.

"Sir, you never mentioned anything about an appointment" Larry cut in. He would have had this guy on record if he knew was coming.

"I didn't?" J.W. blinked. "Eh, my mistake… well come with me, we have a few things to discuss" Larry followed right behind them as they made it to the elevator. His boss turned around just before Larry stepped inside.

"Uh, Larry" J.W. turned around.

"Yes, sir?"

"Where are you going?" Larry paused for a moment. Wasn't it obvious? He couldn't stand whenever J.W. did this routine. It almost made think he was stupid.

"With you, I thought we had a meeting right?"

" _We_? Did _you_ schedule the meeting?" the portly toon narrowed his eyes. Larry looked down.

"Well…no"

"Then it's not your concern"

"But it's after closing time…" his boss laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Larry, Larry. You worry too much. Just let me handle this, you worry about organizing that room you call an office. And while you're at it, shred these files." He handed Larry a thick vanilla folder. "And be quick too! I'm not paying to work overtime."

"Well, alright" Larry replied. A satisfied smile grin was his boss's response. He stepped back inside the elevator.

"Thanks, Goodnight Larry" The cigar went back into his mouth as the doors closed. Out of the corner of his eye, he could have sworn he saw Corden smirk. Without another word, he went back to his office. He opened the door. The office was tiny and cramped; Paperwork and sealed up folders littered his desk. Some spilling onto the floor. He sat down, files in hand.

So much didn't seem right about this. Normally, J.W. would have had security remove guys like Corden within seconds. Better yet, JW would have mentioned that he'd have company. Then again, he didn't do that when they met with Plotz at the Ink and Paint Club. If only he had a chance to hear in on that meeting. By the time he'd come back with the drinks, they had already finished up for the night. But this was his boss he was talking about, he always had a good amount of respect towards him. Sure he was difficult to work with, but he knew that coming in. Just for a bit of confirmation, he decided to look through the files.

_It's not like it would change my opinion, wouldn't it?_

At first, it was exactly what he expected. Old and files and financial reports that long since needed to be taken care of. But then he noticed a few unfamiliar items near the bottom. Below the reports were several charts and graph relating to the studio current steady decline. Why would J.W. want to shred this? It was still valuable information.

There was also something else on one thick page. At first glance, it was just a simple pie graph. A staple at one end. But underneath he could faintly make out rows of text underneath. He adjusted his large thick-rimmed glasses to see if he was looking at it right. The edges seemed frayed in two parts. It actually appeared to be two pages stuck together. He held them up to the light to get a better look at what he was seeing. What he saw disturbed him. So much to the point to where he wasn't sure he wanted to ask J.W. about this. Because whatever this pasted document was, it had Mr. Plotz's signature.


	14. The Plotz Convenience

XXXX

April 17th 11:50 AM

The sand-gravel crunched underneath Nurse's sock covered feet. The late morning air was just as hot as it was yesterday. She ignored her sore bottom from the hour long tour bus ride over. It had dropped off her and the others just a block away. Just up ahead, the store appeared before them.

It was barely recognizable after yesterday's facelift. Caution tape decorated the large gaping hole where the front door originally stood. The property was vacant except for two cars. The Chevy from yesterday was there, but the second one was not a police cruiser like she expected. Instead was a faded cream pickup truck.

Right outside the hole was the last person she expected to see. Notts was sweeping up broken debris with a broom. Nurse had no desire to see this guy after what he did to them yesterday. But right now they needed answers, and they had a crazy plan to get them. One she was _really_ unsure about.

She walked right up to him while his back was turned. Not saying a word, she watched him sweep for a few more seconds before he finally turned around. His eyes widened, a nervous smile stretched across his face.

"Oh, hi there dear" he greeted with false sympathy.

"Hello, Notts" Nurse replied coldly. She fought back her desire to throttle him when the overweight wolf pointed at the cut on her forehead. The one she bandaged herself.

"How'd that happen to you?" Nurse remained silent when she heard the rest of the gang's footsteps behind her. They flanked at her sides.

"You, happened," said Ralph. He came up from her left.

"Notts, we need to have another talk" Scratchensniff said when he came up on her right. Notts dropped the broom and stepped back a bit. Gradually, his smile melted away.

"Look ya'll, I appreciated you coming out but I can't- ow!" He griped at his left knee. The person who kicked it stood just below him.

"That was not a request!" Plotz ordered him. "You owe us an explanation now more than ever!"

Notts rubbed at his sore knee "Dag gummit! I understand but…"

"No, you don't! And if you're not going to tell us, I'm going to find someone that will!"Plotz stormed past him and right towards the store.

"Hey, get away from there! That's a crime scene!" Notts called after him. Plotz ignored him as he ducked under a low bar of caution tape. The greyed out Willie brother Bill, happened to be standing nearby.

"Howdy ya'll, my name is…"

"Shut up!" Plotz yelled.

Nurse and the others followed him inside as they stepped over the caution tape. The store was almost exactly as they left it, save for the jukebox playing music in the back. The sounds of a yodeling choir over peppy accordions didn't seem to fit the environment they were in. It was almost as if they were back in that club from the other night. The other two brothers Phil and Gil were sweeping up loose debris on the floor. They stopped as soon they saw Notts burst inside, nearly tripping up on the tape.

"I'm telling you if yall don't leave I'll have to report you for trespassing!"

"Notts! Shut up!" a voice yelled. That familiar southern drawl made Nurse's skin crawl. Notts's face dropped when he heard the footsteps. The backdoor behind the counter opened. She took a deep breath. It was the last person she wanted to see right now, but she and the others had too. Alameda Slim appeared behind the counter, his back facing to them. He seemed to be holding a raw steak over his bruised eye and a cell phone in the other.

"Hello, this Mr. Alameda Slim speaking, how can I help you?" Slim answered cheerfully. An indistinct voice garbled at the other end. The coarseness in his voice faded for just a moment. "…I understand, but what about the meeting…?" More garbled speech came. "What?!" His voice rose. The faux politeness he'd put on disappeared. As he listened, Notts impatiently tapped at his shoulder. The cowboy roughly slapped his hand away. The wolf crossed his arms as he waited for him to finish. "No, it can't wait till then! We had a deal…Come on…!"

A faint click was heard. With a groan, he threw the phone at a nearby trashcan.

"He ain't coming is he?" Notts sighed.

"No he's not…" he muttered before he turned around. When Slim saw the scowling gang before him, the steak immediately dropped from his hands. Just as she expected, his eye was already black. "Oh shit".

"You kiss your ma with that mouth?" Ralph exclaimed. He'd went to the jukebox and unplugged it. Slim spat on the ground.

"You'd be surprised…" he muttered in the uncomfortable silence. He turned to the uneasy wolf standing near him. "Notts, What are they doing here?!"

"I don't know! They just popped up!" the wolf crabbily spat back. Slim irritably rubbed his good eye.

"This is the last time I let you watch the store when I'm gone!"

"Wait, you're not the real manager?" Nurse spoke up.

"Well, I might have fibbed… I'm just the head cashier" Notts twiddled with his furry fingers.

"Oh no! I _know_ you didn't fool these guys into thinking _you_ ran this place!" Slim shook his head in disbelief. Notts bumped him back with his belly.

"Well, why not?! My name comes first in the goddamn title..."

"Will either of you tell us what's going on here?!" Plotz yelled over both of them. Notts came forward for a moment just before Slim elbowed him in his arm.

"There ain't nothing else to tell shortstop!" Slim barked at him. The CEO scrunched his face, his teeth grinding together. Nurse already knew this was not going to end well. "Everything I know is everything he's already told you! The facts don't lie!"

"No, but you do" Scratchensniff answered. The defiance in his voice nearly threw her off. The brief pause from Slim proved it threw him off too.

"Who's not coming Slim?" Gil asked. "Is it…" Bill smacked his hand over his mouth.

Slim glared at his coworkers. "It's nothing. A nobody…"

"It's D.L isn't it?" Scratchensniff uttered. Everyone turned back to him. Slim went silent for a moment. Slowly he marched toward him. His angry eyes looked intense enough to bore holes into Scratchy's cracked glasses.

"How the hell do you know about D.L?"

Scratchy pulled out a small tab from his pocket, he unfolded it. It was the list Slim dropped the other night. "We don't, we hoped you know"

Slim snatched it from Scratchy and immediately crumpled it up.

"Like I said he's a nobody!" he spouted just as Scratchy stopped talking.

"You're lying again, Slim" Scratchy's face hardened. "Just tell us the truth"

Slim arched an eyebrow. He moved even closer. The hairs of his red mustache almost touched the psychiatrists face. His hand gently moved towards a holster on his belt. His voice went gravely "Your detective friends' ain't around this time. So what's stopping me from telling you nothing?"

Scratchensniff didn't even budge. Surprisingly, a small smile actually appeared on his face. A quick glance at her was the cue she was waiting for.

"Because we know you don't own a gun Slim" Nurse responded. "All Disney Villains aren't allowed to"

Slim's incredulous gasp was the reaction they were hoping for. Before he could react, two meaty hands sprang up in front of Scratchensniff. They latched onto Slim's curly handlebar mustache. Slim griped in pain when he was dragged down to Mr. Plotz's eyesight. Notts lurched forward to intervene.

"No one move! Or this man's stache is coming off!" Plotz yelled at him. The wolf stopped in his tracks. Slim's beefy arms dragged helplessly against the hardwood floor.

"Oh, Come on! Do you have any idea how long it takes to grow this back?! Ouch!" he whined.

"No, want me to find out?" Plotz gave an extra tug. Slim's coloring in his face began to fade just as Plotz began to burn bright red. "You better start talking, because my patience is running out!"

"Gahh! You're crazy!" Slim yelled. "I'm a respected businessman! I can have you all put away for trespassing and assault! Oww!" The mustache was jerked counterclockwise.

"I'm a CEO! That's nothing compared to what _I_ can do when this is over! I'll put this whole rinky-dink business in so much liquidfication, your great grandkids will need lawyers!"

"Come now! You wouldn't do all of that, would you?" Slim pleaded. Plotz paused and glanced behind him.

"Ralph, Get over here!"

"Ah, Sure thing, boss" Ralph lumbered over from the entrance. He went behind Slim and grabbed underneath his shoulders.

"On the count of five, you and I will pull! One…!"

"Notts you're just going to sit there and let this Oompa Loompa shave me?!" Slim stared at Notts.

"Two…!"

Notts stood off to the side, his head hanging to the ground. A distasteful frown was the response he got.

"Just stop it Slim, they know too much already" the wolf answered.

"Three!"

"Willie Boys?!" Slim looked at the trio behind him. Sweat beading from his head. The blond haired boys in question awkwardly stepped back, refusing to look at him.

"Four!"

"Just tell us vhat you know Slim…" said Scratchensniff.

"…And we'll never bother you again" Nurse finished his statement. Bug eyed and trembling, Slim stared at his captivator.

"Cans I keeps his mustache?" Ralph remarked.

Plotz gave one tight squeeze on the facial hair. "Sure Ralph, Fff…"

"Okay, Okay! Stop!" Slim cried out! "Just make him let go of me!"

A sweet smile erased the scowl on Plotz's face. He finally let go "Thank you."

Slim panted when he massaged his now crooked mustache. One could still see the marks where Plotz's hands once were. Nurse almost wished he'd gone ahead and done it. But she knew physical violence was not his weapon of choice. So humiliation would have to settle instead. And it was perfectly fine. She could hear Ralph giggling behind the cowboy.

"What are you laughing at, you blue marshmallow?" Slim glared at him. Scratchensniff pulled a chair off to the side and sat down.

"So tell us, who is D.L?" he asked.

One of the other Willie brothers pulled a chair from behind the counter. He handed it to Slim.

"Thanks, traitor" Slim mumbled. After sitting down, he cleared his throat. A heavy sigh came afterward. Nurse wasn't sure if he was getting ready to tell the biggest lie yet, or he'd actually tell the truth. She had a bigger feeling that it would be the latter. "D.L. was, my business partner. Said he's an independent, property manager. Real nice guy. Well spoken. Every time he talked, it felt like he could sell the shirt of your hide. He's the reason I'm out here"

Scratchensniff pulled out a notepad. "Vhen und where did you first meet him?"

"About a year and a half ago at my old shop. March I recall. He came in during one of my clearance sales. When we got to talking he proposed a deal."

"Vhat kind of deal?"

Slim grumbled something under his breath. "Well, ya'll already know my store didn't close down for good. I was trying to open up a new one out here."

"But vhy El Paso?"

"Funny thing bout this town, property prices are cheaper here. And toons don't need a single permit. They can sell almost anything. So, after telling him my situation, he did something I didn't expect. He told me that he could give me $50,000, just enough to open up my new store.

Scratchy jerked back a hearing that. "I'm sorry what?"

"He just gave you that kind of money?" Nurse commented.

Slim slumped back in the chair "Yes he did. I was pretty shocked too"

Plotz shook his head in disbelief. "No! No! Wait! No one just throws that kind of money around unless they've got some sort of connection!"

"Please, Ives taken money from stranger folks… but the deal was this, in exchange for the money, I'd have to give him some of my merchandise…"

Scratchy scribbled down more notes in his pad. "Were some of these items Gloves, masks, pipes, and thinner?"

"Especially, thinner. And he wanted it all, _free_ of charge." Slim uttered in disgust. "But, as long as he made due on his part, I was fine. And he did. And I didn't sell a single jug until this store opened."

Nurse noticed the scorched jug recovered from ACME labs had been neatly placed on top of a shelf. She quickly grabbed it.

"If that's true, then how come that jug we found at the lab had your old store label on it?" she asked.

"You can blame Gil for that!" Notts answered. The Willie brother mentioned hung his head. "When we started selling this stuff, Gil screwed up by putting our old name on the first batch. We had to fix it once the second one came around. Slim didn't even notice…!"

"Notts, they wanted to talk to me! Not you!" Slim snapped at him. Irritated, Notts waved him off.

"Oh picky, picky…" the wolf muttered.

"So, what else happened?" Scratchensniff asked. Slim went silent for a moment. He took off his hat.

"When D.L came the first time around. He was alone. It wasn't until a few days later he came through here with the mice. And I met his freaky gang for the first time. And ya'll have already them.

"We wish we could forget" Nurse quipped. She remembered something. "But you said the other night the _four_ of them visited you. The extra three man group would make six."

"That's because it _was_. D.L, Pinky, Brain, and Mr. Muguu. I didn't meet other two until later…" Slim admitted. "I don't know what rat hole they came from, but it definitely wasn't from Disney that's for sure."

"Were Pinky and the Brain looking for the same thing the others were?" said Scratchy

"I doubt they did much looking. The whole time. That bear had em in his grasp. Could see their little heads poking through all the shiny fur, squeezing them in his meaty fist as if he was going to crush them."

Scratchy opened his mouth. But nothing came out. Nurse and the others did likewise. This was probably the last thing she expected to hear from him. The thought of that brute crushing those two nearly made her sick.

"Why?" Scratchy's voice took on a harsher tone.

"D.L said that he was in the middle of a major project. He needed their help. Whether they wanted to or not"

"What kind of project was it?"

"I don't know. I don't ask questions, I ask for the money. But he needed some more supplies this time around. He said he'd pay me with the same amount from last time. But…" he paused momentarily. "I had to sign the receipt for the paint thinner, in the mice's names."

"And you did it. Didn't you?"

Slim inhaled deeply, suppressing the anger that was probably inside of him. "Normally, I draw the line at kidnapping and forgery. I told him that if he didn't double the amount, He'd have to take his little ragtag posse and get out of here." He lightly rubbed at his leather gloves. "So when I didn't do it…" he looked over at Bill. The colorless clerk stared straight ahead, adjusting his blue scarf. The solemn frown stretched on his face. "That damn bear took one of jug's I had…put on the gloves" his voice began to break. "…And he sprayed it all over him" Slim pulled off one on his gloves. His hand was completely washed out save for a few spots. "And he let me have a sample as well. This will fix in a few weeks. But, I don't think Bill's color will ever come back"

Nurse swallowed hard. She was actually surprised at the pang of guilt in his voice. Now she understood why Slim didn't want to talk. He wasn't the mastermind behind this crime, but a witness and an unwilling accomplice. These people were the real ones who kidnapped Pinky and the Brain. And he knew all along.

"As long as I stuck to the deal, this would be worst of it. And I wouldn't be pinned for their disappearance. So, I looked the other way. And I let him sign it." He continued with an inch of resentment. "He told me once the project was over, he'd pay me. And that would be it. Now he says he's almost done. But, he feels I'm 'financial stable'… and that now would be a good time to _sever_ our ties…"

"So he's not going to pay you."

"That's right. And that's all I know" Everyone was in complete silence when he finished talking. His face hardened when he got up from his seat. "Now, get out"

"You coward!" Mr. Plotz immediately lunged for him. Ralph and Scratchensniff jumped in and restrained him by the arms. Slim fell back in his seat and accidentally tipped it over. "Let me at him! Let me at his mustache!"

"No! Not again!" The cowboy fearfully scrambled behind Notts. A long object fell out of his holster. Notts picked it up.

"A nightstick?! Oh, really Slim?" he irritably rubbed his eyebrows.

"I can't have a gun remember!"

"You let those freaks take them just so you could keep your stupid shop?!" Plotz screamed at him.

"I did what I had to do! Besides, It was just two mice!" Slim yelled back. Scratchy and Ralph nearly lost their grip when Plotz swiped at him.

"Just two mice?! You let them walk away with two of my biggest stars! I should call the cops to arrest you right now!"

"Go ahead! See if they believe your story! I'm sure they' were a _big_ help to you yesterday!"

Plotz stopped struggling as soon as he said that. Scratchy and Ralph released their grip. He was right. If they wouldn't buy that three weird looking toons almost killed them yesterday, why would they believe this? As long as they stayed in this city, the law wouldn't be on their side. And he knew that too. Suddenly any shred a sympathy she had earlier was slowly melting away.

"So those three don't work for you. And you don't have the mice." Scratchesniff said, regaining control over the interview. Slim silently nodded his head. "When did you see the mice last after that day?"

Slim set his chair back up and sat down. "There was no after that day! After D.L. signed the file, he took both mice with em. And I ain't seen them since."

The psychiatrist said nothing at first. Then he popped his next question.

"Have you met the Warners at all in the past year and a half?"

Slim reeled back in confusion. "No, ain't seen those three in my life. Unless you count the TV. The hell do they have to do with...?" Slim stopped mid-sentence. His eyes gave him an incredulous look. The meat headed cowboy finally knew why they were out here to begin with. "Wait… Wait a minute, that's what this is all about? You honestly think I'm the one who took those three?!"

"That's vhat we're trying to find out"

"Why would I need those knuckleheads? I've already got three as kinfolk!" he jutted a thumb at the Willie brothers behind him.

"That's sweet Slim" Phil smiled. Then he received a swift bonk in the nose.

"Shut up, can't you see I'm talking here?" Slim snapped.

"So does that mean D.L. has them?" Ralph wondered. Slim lumbered up from his chair. He poked a bare meaty finger into his gut.

"I don't know, and I don't care. Whatever goes on is his business, but if he's going to threaten me and not make his part of the bargain. I want none of it. And if you guys are smart you'll do the same. So take your Hollywood hides back home…"

Ralph swiped his finger away. "Wes not going home," he said defiantly.

Notts, who had been quiet for the most part, stepped in front of him.

"Look, he ain't kidding bout any of this!" he warned. "You ever seen what thinner does to a toon?"

"Yes…" Scratchensniff instinctively lifted up the sleeve on his sweater, the discolored rash in full view. He said it had long since stopped hurting. Nurse wished he didn't keep doing that. Exposing the rash would only make it longer to heal. "And ve are villing to take that risk. One more question. Vhat did D.L look like?"

"About your height. Tall, black hair, a nose more crooked than he is, thick eyebrows…"

Nurse looked over at Plotz. His anger dissipated into a frown of concern for a brief moment. Had he seen someone who looked like that? Had _she_ seen someone who looked like that? Her train of thought was momentarily interrupted when Scratchy got up from his seat.

"Thank you. Slim" he said stiffly. He seemed to cringe at saying those three words. Slim said nothing as he stared down at him.

"You really think those Warner's are still out there? It's been over a year."

"Yes, I have a 2 day old note to prove it"

"So, a lot can happen in just two days. What makes them different?" Slim sneered. Scratchy stood there and stared at him. Nurse never saw the doctor this serious before. But then again, after everything that happened, how could she not?

"You don't know the Warners" After a few more seconds of silence, he headed out the front hole. Plotz followed after him.

"I'll see you in court" he pointed a finger at Slim.

"We'll see about that" Slim replied icily. He wisely stepped back when Plotz clenched his fists.

The CEO inhaled deeply, no doubt resisting the urge to tackle him. "Come on Ralph."

Ralph plugged the jukebox back in. The unfitting sound of a male tenor yodeling came on. He cringed at the sound before shooting an angry look at Slim. "Big bully! Who likes this music anyway?"

"Yodeling is an _art!_ " Slim shouted at him. Nurse gave one last look at their former prime suspect. She promised herself when this was all over, she'd make sure the Warners paid this creep a visit.

"Thanks for your cooperation, Mils" Nurse thanked dryly.

Slim arched back in disgust. "You know I think I liked you better when you didn't talk so much"

"Well, I never liked you at all. So now we're even."

"Ooh!" The Willie Brothers hooted. Notts doubled over with laughter, his belly jiggling in the process.

"She got you good there Slim!" he smacked Slim's shoulder. The cowboy shoved him off with a sour face.

"I don't know what my friend Minerva saw in you"

Slim's bruised eye creaked open for a moment. Notts suddenly stopped laughing. "Wait, Minerva? _My_ Minerva? Minerva Mink?!"

"Yes?" Nurse replied. She nearly shook her head when she realized what she just found out.

_Oh Minerva, really?_

"How do you know Minerva?!" He bore his eyes at Slim. "Wait a minute… How do _you_ know?"

Sweat began to beat from Slim's head. "Aww, Come on Notts, it was just a nice friendly little romp!"

The wolf gnashed his sharp teeth. He picked up the raw steak Slim dropped earlier. "Oh yeah?! How friendly…?!"

"I got 20 on Notts!" Bill commented, taking out coins from his pocket.

"We bet 40 on Slim!" Phil and Gil added.

Nurse took this as her cue to leave. Behind her, the wet slaps of the steak hitting Slim's hairy face faded into the background. After she found the Warners, she'd have to find Minerva too. She would really need to discuss her dating skills.

XXXX

12:23 PM

It was already past noon when the gang walked down the street. The store pulled further and further behind. Dr. Scratchesniff was finally glad to be out of there. Even though their meeting was only a few minutes, being with Slim that long felt like an eternity. They sat in the shade under a nearby rest stop building. Nurse came out the door with a folded map.

"Gracias Senor, you sure I don't have to pay?" Nurse called out. A sandy faced human clerk stood at the doorway.

"Nah Senora, es gratis, free" he winked before he disappeared inside the store. She shrugged her shoulders and sat down with the others. Plotz rubbed at his bare knuckles.

"Plotz, were you really going to harm Slim like that?" Scratchensniff asked. Plotz almost laughed at hearing that.

"Scratchensniff please!" he scoffed. "I've dealt with soccer moms tougher than him! Although his mustache would have made a nice toupee"

A small ringing came out of nowhere. It came from a small flip phone Plotz had taken out of his pocket. A brief frown appeared when Plotz looked at the number. Hesitantly, he answered it.

"Hello... Yes, this is him, what do you want... What?" Scratchy could tell this wasn't someone Plotz recognized. "Why do you need him…He's actually right here, hold on" he handed his phone to him. "It's for you"

Confused and dumbfounded, he gingerly picked up the phone from Plotz's hand.

"Hello?"

" _Hello, is this Dr. Scratchensniff?"_ a thin voice asked.

"Yes"

" _This is Larry from Globwobber Studios. I need to ask something that's very important. Have you received an email from a Yakko Warner within the past two days?"_

Scratchy nearly dropped the phone as he fumbled to take in what he just heard. "Um, Yes"

" _Then I take you already know what it's about"_

"Yes but, how did you get a hold of it? I haven't sent it out to anyone else!"

" _Well apparently, Yakko wanted to make sure at least one other person beside you got his message_ …"Larry explained. Scratchy froze briefly " _Hello?"_

"Can you hold on for just one moment?" Scratchy handed the phone back to Plotz before taking out his own phone from his pocket. He checked the email from Yakko. Scratchy was surprised he didn't see this earlier. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that it had indeed been sent out to two emails. His, and another one he didn't recognize.

"What is it Scratchy?" Ralph asked.

"The secretary of Globwobbler Studios says he said he just found Yakko's message in his email inbox"

"What? How did that happen? _Why_ did that happen?" Nurse wondered.

"I don't know, but it happened" Scratchy glanced at both phones.

"Put him on speaker Plotz! We all need to hear this."

"You can do that?!" Plotz's face twisted in confusion. His fingers gingerly hovered aimlessly over his phone. Scratchy forgot Plotz was still rusty when it came to learning new technology.

"Just press the little megaphone thingy" Ralph answered.

"Um, Thanks" Plotz looked down and flushed bright red. He pressed the button. " I would have figured it out…"

" _Hello_?" Larry's voice boomed at high volume.

"Jesus!" Plotz jumped. The phone flew out of his hand and back into Scratchensniff's.

"Larry? I'm sorry, but this doesn't make any sense, vhy vould Yakko send it out to you?" he spoke.

" _I don't know, I needed to contact you to see if you might have an idea. I honestly thought maybe this was a hoax"_

"It's no hoax, I know Yakko. No one else could send a message like that. When was that email sent to you?"

_About 2 days ago, but I didn't find out about it until today._

"Have you contacted J.W. about this?" Plotz spoke up

_Not yet I haven't, I haven't been able to reach him since last night. Apparently, he had a brief emergency to take care of."_

"What?! Do you at least know when he's coming back?"

" _Monday is what he told me. But I didn't want to lay the message over to him until after I figured out where it came from._

"Do yous know how we can do that?" Ralph blurted out. Plotz quickly shushed him.

" _What the?! How many people are on this line_?"

"Only four" Nurse answered.

"Come on! He's just the secretary, he probably wouldn't know." Plotz waived off Ralph's question.

A brief pause happened before Larry spoke. _"Well… Not exactly, I mean... I can try to track the email's IP address to see what I can find"_

The CEO's doubtful frown vanished after hearing that. "Really? You can?"

" _Well…sort of, I dabbled in electronics for a bit, but we probably won't find anything useful_.

"Cans yous still try though?" Ralph asked hopefully. "Wes been looking for the Warners for the past few days!"

" _Look, I don't' know, I don't want to lead you guys to a dead end."_

"It's better than nothing. You have to try!" Nurse pleaded.

"But, _Even if I do find something, there's no guarantee it will be accurate…"_

"Larry were stuck in El Paso right now. We need all the help we can get." Scratchy protested. Plotz grabbed the phone from him.

"Do it or you're fired!"Plotz ordered.

" _But I don't work for you!"_

"We'll consider this a voluntary internship!"

A few seconds of silence came. _"Alright, fine. Just… give me a few minutes_."

"Thank you," said Scratchensniff.

" _I'll be back_ " a click came at the other end. Plotz put his phone away.

"Well… that was convenient" Nurse commented.

"So what do we do nows?" Ralph asked.

"We wait" Scratchensniff replied. "In the meantime, we should go over what we know"

The psychiatrist pulled out Bonkers red book from his hammerspace. He'd spent most of last night studying the pages while he and the others stayed at a local motel.

"Well, we know Slim is not the main guy behind all of this." Said Plotz.

"But we don't know who this D.L. is" Nurse stated. "We know he's a property manager and we sort of know what he looks like. You see anything about him in the book?"

"No, nothing. And I've already gone through this book twice. All the book covers is what we already know" Scratchy said while he flipped through the book's worn pages. Nurse came over and flipped through a few pages herself. She stopped at a picture of Pinky and the Brain pasted inside. A few cut out news article was pasted underneath.

"Slim said D.L needed them for some sort of 'project'. Why would Pinky and the Brain want anything to do with him? Pinky would be willing to work with anybody. But, Brain is not exactly the partner type" said Nurse.

Scratchy agreed with her statement. Knowing Brain, the project would either have to A: include world domination, and B: have his complete control over it. Nurse flipped through a few more pages. A few of them displayed the receipts recovered from the lab.

"And remember, March 10 was when they visited Slim in LA. March 16 was when they visited Slim with D.L. So whoever this guy is, he provided money and transportation."

"Do you think D.L had the Warners all along? You think Pinky and Brain knew?" Ralph scratched his head.

"That… is a certain possibility" Scratchy replied guiltily. It was a thought he personally wanted to avoid as it still viewed them in a suspicious light. "As much I hate to admit it, Lucky did have a point. They were the last two people who saw the Varners before they disappeared in April."

"But, if it's true, why wouldn't they tell anybody's?" Ralph asked. Scratchy didn't have an answer to that. He almost wished Brain were here. He had a far better eye for scurrying through details than himself. In fact, if he and Pinky hadn't been taken, they would have been the perfect candidates to find the Warners. They saw them just about every day.

"I don't know…." Suddenly, an idea came to Scratchensniff's head. "Mr. Plotz, What would you do if you took the Warners hostage?

"I wouldn't know Scratchy, I'm not a glutton for punishment!" Plotz exclaimed.

"But if you were"

"Id, file a ransom. Those three are worth a lot of money. 27 million dollars in total to be exact. But these guys haven't done that!"

"Right! Instead, he vants their help for his 'project'. And as long as he has the Varners, anything that happens to them will be on their head. And if he did that to Pinky and the Brain, Maybe he did the same thing with Slim as well."

"That sort of makes sense…" Nurse pondered. "But why do all of this for their services instead of money? Surely he'd still need money to fund this project he's working on."

"That backs up my suspicion about this guy, no property manager I know, would just throw money around like that. Some else we _don't_ know has to be giving him money!" Plotz interjected.

"But who? You think it could be those goons that chased us?" said Ralph.

"Nah, those freaks look like the can barely afford the clothes on their backs."

"But ve're still left with one question…" Scratchensniff pondered.

"We knows _who_ took thems..." said Ralph.

"We know _when_ they took them..." said Plotz.

"But we really don't know, why?" Nurse finished his statement.

The phone rang again. Plotz instinctively pulled the phone back out. Without error, he put it on speaker.

" _Hello?"_

"Well, what did you find out?" Plotz asked.

" _I found two things, but it's very strange."_

"Give us the least strange one." said Nurse.

" _Well…. After tracking the address, I found out it came from a system that still used, Windows 2000."_

"Who still uses an outdated computer like that?" said Nurse.

"Better yet. Where would you even find one that still works?" Scratchensniff added. He arched both eyebrows at hearing that. Larry wasn't kidding about the strange part.

" _Well, that's where the second strange thing comes in, the message is actually a lot closer than I thought. It's from the Salton Sea."_

"What? What's Salton Sea?"

"I think I've heard of that place…" Nurse pulled out the roadmap she'd bought earlier. She opened it up and searched for the location. After a few seconds, she found it. "Look there it is!"

Sure enough, there it was. Salton Sea was a big lake located just a few several miles away from Sandy Springs. This meant the Warners were this close all this time. But why there?

"Salton, I haven't thought of that place in years." Plotz mused softly.

"Mr. Plotz, you knows about that place?" Ralph asked.

"Of course, it used to a big time beach resort back in the day!"

"What happened to it?" Scratchy asked.

"A lot of things, pollution, loss of funding, fading tourism. It's a ghost town"

"That must be why they're there! It's one of the last places anybody would look!" Nurse explained excitedly. " It's perfect!"

"Oh, thank you, Larry, You have no idea what a huge help this is!" Scratchensniff thanked Larry.

" _You're Welcom-Wait, you're actually considering on going?! Don't you need help?"_

"No! This isn't your problem Larry! Thank you!" Plotz cut in.

" _But I'm…"_ Plotz hung up and put the phone away.

Scratchensniff's stomach squelched in a tight mixture of fear and excitement. He knew this was probably the craziest decision they have ever made so far. In a way, they would be heading straight into the lion's den. Then again, the past two days have been nothing but a series of crazy decisions. But in another way, they were finally getting closer to solve this mystery, and finally, find their friends.

"So how are we going to get to Salton Sea? Aren't those places hard to find?" said Nurse.

"Well worry about that when we get to Palm Springs." Plotz searched his wallet for any remaining cash he still had on him. His face brightened when a wad of bills came out.

"But we don't have a car Plotz" Ralph stated. "How will we gets there?"

Mr. Plotz took the roadmap from Nurse and flipped to a section that showed just the city of El Paso.

"By doing something we should have done earlier in this adventure." He put his finger down on their next destination. The El Paso International Airport. **** ~~~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hate to leave it here! But that's all I got for right now. I should have another chapter up very soon! We're finally reaching the finish line people! Thanks again for viewing. Have a great day.


	15. A Reunion In Salton

Chapter 14: A 'Reunion' in Salton

XXXX

5:23 PM

Dr. Scratchensniff stared at the vast sandy desert stretching out for miles. Staring was all he could do since Ralph's guild squished him against the car's back door window. He'd done the same for Nurse who was also sitting in the back with them.

" _Turn Left here"_ A GPS voice answered. Plotz's cab driver did as told as they went down another street. Small houses started appearing just along the horizon.

The trip to Palm Springs was pretty uneventful. The only thing that was notable was that Plotz thought to ride 3rd class was actually somewhat decent. Granted he'd also said he'd never do it again, but still. Once they made landfall, Plotz hired out a cabman that worked in the area. One he knew personally. It was an hour later when they finally reached their destination.

"Wait, Stop right here!" Plotz ordered. The cab slowed down in front of a boarded up motel. Plotz unlocked the door to the front seat and got out. Ralph and Nurse slowly filed out of the back seat. Scratchy waited for the numbness in his legs to wear off before he got out as well.

"We'll call you when we need a ride back," Plotz told the cabbie.

"Meep, Meep!" his driver replied. Before they could thank him, the Roadrunner speed down the street quickly as it had arrived. Dust kicked up into the sky. A rotten pungent smell wafted into Scratchensniff's nostrils, causing him and the others to cough.

"Gah! I remember this wasn't always the best smelling place, but it was never this bad!" Plotz uttered breathlessly.

"You can blame years of waste runoff and high salinity for that" Nurse glanced through their fold up map.

"For once I wish we were back in El Paso!"

"Sand looks kinda funny" Ralph scooped up a handful of white chunky fragments.

"Uh, Ralph, that's not sand" Nurse cringed.

"What is it then?"

"You don't want to know…"

Frowning, Ralph quickly dropped his handful on the ground. Finally, the dust started to clear. The gang took in their surroundings.

It was the most unusual place they'd been in for the last two days. The ground was practically a desert wasteland, and yet the setting sky was an absolutely beautiful blend of red and gold. Off to their right, a huge body of water seemed to stretch endlessly across the horizon. Despite the fact that Salton was a tiny town stationed by a big saltwater lake, it used to be a huge tourist trap. All the biggest stars came through here, Beach Boys, Liberace, Scratchensniff vaguely recalled Bugs Bunny hosting a few annual birthday parties here as well. The city they were looking at right now was not it.

Not a patch of green could be seen for miles. Most of the beach houses that were once new had long since burned down or went into disrepair. The crowds of rowdy beachgoers were replaced with drifting tumbleweeds and large flocks of seagulls. Save for a few elderly porch sitters further down the street, there was hardly anyone around. Scratchensniff was starting to wonder if coming here was a good idea.

"I guess we start looking" Ralph broke the awkward silence. He peered inside the window of a small burnt out shed.

"Ralph!" Nurse exclaimed.

"What?"

She irritably came over with a pair of disposable gloves.

"This place is an economic disaster! You can't just go around touching anything."

"Sorry" he slipped them on his meaty hands.

"But, where do we start? There's over a dozen buildings in this place. They could be in any one of them!" said Plotz.

"Not all of them. All we have to do is find one with an old computer." Scratchy said aloud. The CEO looked at a nearby empty beach house with unease.

"But, who knows what's lurking around in those buildings? If the Warners are here, you can bet those other goons are here too." He'd made a good point. They had to be on guard if those three were hiding out somewhere. Suddenly the tranquil silence was very unsettling.

"How about this? Two of us can search a building while the others stay out and watch?" Nurse proposed. The others nodded in agreement. It wasn't the best idea at the moment, but they felt they had to start somewhere.

Over the next hour, the gang searched through various empty buildings along the coast. They found plenty of furniture, dead fish, and old cars, but no computers, which meant no Warners. Thankfully, they hadn't seen any sign of Muguu, Lionel, or Siba. Every now and then, they would stop searching just to see if the gang was anywhere nearby. When they found no one, as usual, it was back to business. Occasionally they would the ask the residents, what little there was if they saw anybody in D.L's gang or the Warners. No one was really all that helpful. The only info they got came from a local store clerk. Lionel and Muguu would visit his store every other month for snacks. But other than that, there was nothing that was useful in finding them.

"Doc, you think they used this?" Ralph called out to Scratchy. They were going through a pile of broken computers inside another abandoned beach house.

"No Ralphie, it was Windows 2000. That's a laptop with a Beach Boys vinyl stuck to the back."

"Any luck?" Plotz called from outside.

"No" they replied before coming out.

"I don't think vere getting anywhere this way." Scratchy took off his pair of gloves.

"Well, how else are we going to find the right place?" Plotz countered. "Maybe we're not looking hard enough.

"We've been scouring every building from top to bottom." Nurse said.

"There has to be something we're missing… otherwise, we're going to be here all night…" Scratchensniff stopped mid-sentence when he noticed Ralph had stepped away from the others to look at the paved dirt ground. "Ralph what are you doing?"

"You says these guys are around here? Maybe they left a clue" The guard pointed at a bunch of feet prints and tire tracks on the dirt ground.

Plotz smacked his head realization. "Ralph that's the smartest thing I've ever heard you say!"

"It is?"

"The tire tracks from their getaway jeep!" Nurse realized. "Check the book to see if there's a picture inside. Scratchy did as told when he pulled out the red clue book. He flipped through a few pages until he found what they were looking for.

"There it is!" he pointed to one page. Everyone huddled around him. Inside was a crude redrawing of the jeep that tailed them yesterday, Right down to the green paint job and massive all-terrain wheels. Scratchy was surprised this was even in here. Bonkers must of had a good memory to create this reproduction. When did he have time to even make this? Underneath that image was a picture of the tire trails left at ACME Labs. "See how they zigzag in the middle then spread out on the edges? Look for some prints that look like that."

"Over there!" Nurse broke away from the group and headed right towards another pair of tracks. The other followed not far behind. Sure enough, the matching tracks were in the ground. The imprints in the ground were deep, which meant the tracks were very recent. "Let's follow them!"

The tracks led them a good several blocks down the dirt road. They weaved in and around rusted cars and dilapidated housing. Occasionally Scratchy had to fight back the urge to puke when he passed by the occasional pile of dead fish. Ralph, on the other hand, lost that battle a couple of times. As they scoured around the corner of an old office building. Scratchy saw something just ahead of them.

"Vait stop!" Scratchy lowered his voice. What they saw made them stop in their tracks.

A large 3 story hotel loomed just up near the horizon. Its windows had been boarded with wood, and the pink paint job had faded into a bleached blush. It was empty except for one detail. The tracks led right to something parked along the side of the hotel's walls. It was a vehicle partially covered in a thick blue tarp. But upon a closer look, they could make out the wheels and the grimy green paint job on the hood. Between that and them were rusted cars and debris from various buildings. Scratchy barely made another sound when he heard a thump.

Everyone pressed their backs against the wall of the office building. The rough, chipped paint rubbed against Scratchy's bald head. Thankfully, some stacked towers of old tires provided some extra cover. They were in the right place alright. He could hear Plotz knees trembling.

"Now what?" Plotz whispered. "We can't just barge in there!"

"But we can't stay out here! The Warners may be inside!" Scratchy replied.

"I'm calling the police, as small as this town is, they still have one. And better yet, they'll listen to us." Nurse said before she pulled out her cell phone. She made sure the volume was kept down low in case Muguu and his gang were nearby. A few faint rings came, then a few beeps. It rang some more, but still no response. She stuck the phone out in front of her. "Come on, come on! Don't tell me this town doesn't have good reception!" she grumbled.

"It's a ghost town in the middle of the desert! What do you expect?" Plotz commented.

Scratchy was anxious to get moving. But he knew running towards the hotel wouldn't be a great idea. But they were so close. The Warner's were waiting for them!

"Scratchy?" a hoarse voice croaked. Scratchensniff gasped at how familiar it was. Plotz and Nurse stopped talking. He peeked over the piles of tires. No, He must have misheard. He'd been out here so long he was starting to get delirious.

"Scratchy?"

"No, it couldn't be…" he slowly stepped out from their cover.

"Scratchensniff…?" another voice called. This one had a rough Scouse accent. The others silently gasped when they heard that. Okay, so it wasn't a mishearing.

Scratchy could see where it came from. Off to the left was a closed filling station. It was actually a lot closer than the hotel. He could see something faintly in the station's grimy window. Somebody was moving around. Something small. His heart almost stopped when saw the person had a white face that stood out in the dark. And a bright red nose. He couldn't believe, it had been over a year. And they were here…

_They're Here…!_

"Doc, what's wrong?" Ralph asked.

"It's them, it's them!" Scratchy huffed excitedly. Not a moment later he sprinted towards the station.

"Scratchensniff get back here!" Plotz yelled. Scratchensniff barely heard him when he ducked behind an old car halfway there. He kept his eyes on the motel. No one had shown up yet. And no one was watching him. He glanced at the filling station.

"Scratchy? Scratchensniff?" the voices were louder. No doubt, it was Yakko and Wakko. But where was Dot? Why hadn't he heard her voice? He ignored that thought when he crept right up to the station. It had been too long. Right now, nothing else mattered. He hunched just underneath the window. Despite that he was closer, he couldn't make out the two brothers any better. The two of them looked down through their clouded viewpoint, He could see that Wakko's hat was still missing. But the middle sibling seemed just as cheerful as Yakko, despite the situation at hand. Scratchy could feel a deep swell rise up inside him.

"Yakko! Wakko!" Scratchy whispered, barely able to contain his excitement. " I don't believe this! After all these…"

"Scr- Scratchensniff?" Yakko said in a hushed voice. A surprising accomplishment for him.

"Hey, Scratchensniff! What are you doing here?" Wakko added.

"I've come to rescue you, Ralph, Nurse, and Plotz are all here!" Scratchensniff did his best to not let his voice go near mid volume. The Warners heads perked up.

"Scratchy, you don't know how much we missed you too!" the eldest sibling answered.

"Me too!" Wakko added.

"Vait, where's Dot?"

"She's in here with us, but she's real sick. And were too exhausted to carry her." Yakko's head bobbed downward.

"Don't vorry, Im…"Scratchy jumped when a hand landed on his shoulder. His head whipped faster than you could say Schitzelbank. "Ralph?!"

"Plotz and Nurse says you need to come back right now!" Ralph warned breathlessly. He had squatted down to his level, attempting to drag him away from the window.

"But we need to save Dot first! Look! The Warners are okay!"

Ralph looked inside the window. His eyes grew big when he saw Warners inside. "Whoa! It's them!"

"Hey, it's the big guy" Wakko exclaimed.

"Vhat happened to Pinky and the Brain? Are zey with you?" Scratchy asked.

"No! Well tell you about that later, but we got to get out here first" Yakko instructed, his smile unmoved.

Scratchy fiddled with a door leading inside. It was locked. Ralph pushed him out of the way and rammed against the side of the door. But no avail.

"No, No Scratchy! There's another opening in the back!"

"Thanks guys" Ralph quickly ran out to the back side. Scratchensniiff followed not far behind. Both Scratchy and Ralph crept up the siding of the cracking white walls. No one appeared around the hotel just yet. They would have to make a beeline back to cover. Eventually, they made it to the edge of the back doorway. He was so overwhelmed with joy, but yet a queasy lump came from his gut. Something he couldn't shake off. Ralph had already opened the door.

"Alright you guys, where are you?" Ralph peered inside. It looked nearly pitch black in there.

"Over here you big fat lug" Yakko teasingly responded. His voice sounded a lot rougher this time. Ralph carefully stepped inside the dark room.

"It's so good to see you, chaps!" Wakko thanked them. The feeling Scratchy got changed for the worse.

_When did Wakko ever say 'chaps'?_

"Oh no! Ralph! Look out!" Scratchy began to rush inside. Not a moment later, the edge of a brass knuckle emerged from the darkness. And Ralph's face was the first thing it hit.

_Whump!_

Ralph's backside crashed into Scratchensniff like a truck. Both of them hit the ground in a dusty cloud. The smell of rotting fish was even worse. Scratchy flailed his arms and legs as he struggled to free himself from underneath Ralph's massive guild.

"Ouch…!" the guard moaned, covering the left side of his face. Almost out of nowhere, two enormous shadows loomed over them. And the toons they belong to laughed at them.

"Oh save us Dr. Scratchensniff!" Mr. Muguu mocked in an almost near impression of Yakko. In his paw was a life-size plushie of Yakko. Wakko's precious hat was back on his head. Lionel grasped a plushie of Wakko in his hand. In his other hand was the brass knuckle.

"Oh yes" Lionel agreed, imitating Wakko's accent. "Really Fab!"

"It's faboo! Faboo!" Scratchensniff yelled. He struggled to free himself when the bear grabbed hold of his legs. Anger took over as he violently flailed to get away from them. But Muguu would not budge. His paws firmly anchored him to the ground. Finally after wasting all the energy in his body, Scratchy stopped moving. There was no escape. He felt like a complete idiot right now, the guys had a trap ready and waiting. And Scratchensniff fell for it.

_No! We were so close. So close._

XXXX

"Damn…" Mr. Plotz muttered. Just as he feared, something had gone horribly wrong. Scratchensniff and Ralph hadn't returned from behind the filling station. Why did Scratchy do something stupid like that? He knew better than to assume the Warners would be out in the open like this. Especially after being AWOL for over a year.

I don't see them…" Nurse whispered. Her voice was full of worry. Then a few moments later, the guard and psychiatrist finally appeared, but so did two other toons. Scratchy was tied up and slung across Muguu's shoulder like a wet towel. Muguu carried Ralph by his hands while Lionel grabbed his feet. Plotz found himself crouching lower behind their cover. Nurse had done likewise. His heart started beating, this was getting worse by the second.

"We have to move!" Plotz grabbed Nurse's hand.

"But we can't just leave them!" Nurse protested. Plotz turned around to face her.

"I know! But if we stay here they'll find us too..!"

Something rustled just around the corner ahead of them. Footsteps came. Fearing the worse, Plotz backed up. He picked up a large chunk of driftwood off the ground.

"Think its Siba?" Nurse grabbed an old shower rod hanging through the building's cracked window.

Plotz tightly gripped his fingers. The footprints got closer. "Only one way to find out. On my mark. One… Two… thre…"

"Mr. Plotz?" a voice came from around the corner. But the voice, it was coming from the last toon he would have thought of actually being here.

"Plotz! Plotz is that you?"

"Globwobber?" Plotz called out. "Come out so we can see you!" He tightened the grip on his weapon. Sure enough, the real J.W Globwobbler slowly appeared before him. His blue suit was cleanly pressed and dry despite the sweltering heat.

"What the hell are you doing here?" his face was wrenched with concern.

"The hell are _you_ doing here?" Plotz responded, dropping the driftwood. "We have to get out of here! They just took Scratchy and…" J.W covered his mouth. He peered over at the view just past the tire stacks.

"Shh… Plotz, relax! I know! I found where you were and had to come get you! My rides up front"

Nurse and Plotz peered around the corner. A simple gray car was parked just a few feet away. The front and back doors were wide open. The studio head patted his shoulder. "Don't worry, well get them back"

"Globwobbler, you really didn't have to do this"

"Oh. I think I did." the man smiled deeply while saying this. He headed off towards the car. Plotz followed after him.

"You think you can give us a ride to the nearest police station?"

Wait, how did you find out we were here?" Nurse asked, her eyes squinting at Globwobbler.

"That can wait til later, now come on!" Plotz waived off her concern before he made a beeline for his ride. He felt Nurse grab him by the back of his collar. "Nurse what are you…?!"

"No! How _did_ you find out we were here?" she pressed firmly. J.W gave her an incredulous stare. Plotz didn't understand why she was stalling. Time was of the essence right now.

"My secretary told me." J.W simply replied.

"Larry? When did you last talk to him?

"This morning, how is this important? We got to go!" a bit of irritation crept into his voice.

"Because we talked to Larry earlier this afternoon, and he said he hasn't been able to reach you." She replied. Plotz quickly understood why she was skeptical. He couldn't believe he'd almost forgotten about that.

"He said you were hung up with an emergency till Monday! So what happened?" Plotz added. J.W frowned and paused for a moment.

"There has to be a mistake, Larry says a lot of things…" he dismissed. "You seen how absent minded he is Plotz"

"So?! I also _know_ , that he brought us here! A place I or _you_ shouldn't be!"

It didn't make sense. Did Larry lie to them? He trusted that secretary to an extent. But it couldn't be. They were in the right place.

"So maybe he brought both of us! What's the big deal?" J.W. threw up his hands.

"But he didn't know we'd come here until today. So how _you_ would you know we'd be here?" Nurse voice lowered. He felt Nurse's grip tighten on his collar. She started to back slowly from the studio head."Unless..."

Out of the corner of Plotz's eye, the cracked window exploded just behind them. Nurse screamed as something furry and scaly tackled her to the ground.

"Nurse! Nurse!" Plotz yelled. He turned around to see Siba slithering all over her body. Nurse punched and pulled at his furry hide. Siba continued to cackle and constrict tighter coils around her waist and legs.

Pretty soon he was on the ground, desperately trying to loosen the tight wrappings the mutant freak had created. He stopped for a moment and saw that J.W. had barely moved this whole time. He even took out time to dig for a cigar in his pocket.

"Don't just stand there! Help me!" he barked at him. The studio head ignored him and lit the cigar. He took a drag.

"That Nurse is a pretty smart woman Plotz" J.W blew a puff of smoke. " A little too smart if you ask me"

"Globwobbler this isn't a game! Now get down here and help me!" Plotz yelled at him. Seeing him stand there doing nothing was starting to piss him off. He was not in the mood for any snarkiness. This wasn't making any sense. Why was he acting like this? But then again, why would he be out here? Especially if he wasn't able to find out from Larry. And at the same time, D.L's goons were here? He shook his head, assuming the worst.

"No! Don't tell me your working with D.L.! Don't tell me you're working with him." Plotz pleaded.

J.W was silent for a moment. Plotz prayed that he'd get a different answer. Then he knelt down to his eye level.

"Okay, I'm not. He's working for me. Golbwobber uttered contently.

His answer hit Plotz like a brick wall. This was way worse than what he assumed. The CEO simply sat there as he took in the news he just heard. Suddenly the clues made sense now. The head studio man's struggling studio profits, the convenient disappearances of his star characters, then there was D.L's mysterious money supply, it would have had to come from somebody who really benefited from doing this. He was beyond angry that he hadn't seen this from Day 1.

J.W. let out a startled yelp when Plotz sprang up from the ground. Plotz's rough hands pinned him to the wall. They clenched into the taller man's arms, making him squirm.

"You? It was all you?!" Plotz seethed, his face burning bright red. The brief pinch of fear on J.W.'s face was replaced by a wide grin. Smoke oozed out the corners of his mouth.

"Told you doing this search party was a waste of time. Isn't that right, D.L?"

Yes" a voice answered behind him.

For a split second, Alameda's description of D.L flashed in Plotz's mind.

" _Tall , black hair, a nose more crooked than he is, thick eyebrows…_ "

He only knew one person that looked like that. And he was here.

_Wham!_

Before Plotz could explode on 'D.L.' in a fit of blind rage, he hit the ground seeing stars. The last thing he could see was his secretary standing above him with a mallet in his hands.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Plotz…" Daryl L. Corden's voice trailed off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this chapter is on the short side. I wanted to get this out of the way so I could focus on the final chapters of the story. Also, Salton is actually a real place in southern California. You learn something new something every day. But then again, as Yakko would probably say, "This has been another, useless fact."


	16. The Muscle, The Middleman, and The Mastermind.

XXXX

7:59 AM

A bright light broke through Mr. Plotz's clouded vision. The faint scent of thinner lingered on his nostrils. He felt his face rubbing against something hard and wooden.

"Wakey Wakey!" Muguu's guttural voice blared in his ears.

Plotz jolted up to the sound of laughter from the bear and his two partners. Slowly his bearings returned. He realized he was sitting in an office building. Old folders and documents spilled out of desks and littered the sticky floor. Sunlight squeezed through the crooked blinds. On top of that, sitting behind the wooden desk in front of him was the second last person he wanted to see.

"You're awake, good. He really wants to talk to you" Corden replied coldly. Plotz breathed deeply, keeping his bubbling rage under control, he was saving it for the last person he wanted to see. When he lurched forward he realized he couldn't move his arms. He couldn't even touch his fingers. Whatever or whoever was detaining him scraped at his wrist with its leathery skin. The answer came a second later.

"Hi…" Siba creaked lowly in his ear. The weasel snakelike hybrid had bound his arms behind the chair he sat in. Muguu and Lionel stood on either side of the door to the left of him. Plotz noticed out of curiosity, that something happened to the ragtag trio since he last saw them. All three of their had their colors dulled in vibrancy. Muguu's brown fur had a subtle grayish tint. The same went for Siba's fur as well. Lionel's peachy skin was almost a pale white. And the noticeable clear sheen all three had on their skin, was absent. What happened to them?

Whatever it was, the answer had to wait for later. There was nowhere he could go. And right before him was the last person he thought would be involved in this scheme. The secretary flipped through a bunch of loose folders, barely paying him any attention. When Plotz felt it was time to speak, he managed to muster enough strength to keep his voice at mid volume.

"How long?" he uttered.

"What do you mean?" Corden's head perked up.

"How long were you planning on doing this?"

The now former secretary folded his arms. "Long enough to know what I needed to know. It's nothing personal, Plotz."

"Do you realize what you're doing?!"

"Yeah, business. I had a job to do, and working for you was the perfect cover."

"This is my studio on the line! All those months you worked for me! I trusted you, listened to you, and all of that meant nothing?! I should fire you for this!" Plotz rattled in his chair.

Corden got up from his seat and approached him. He narrowed his eyes. The sight of seeing his once optimistic secretary this pensive was very unsettling.

"Not all of it. You're great businessman Plotz. You really are. But you're not a people person." He turned his back to him as he proceeded to organize the files. "Working for Globwobbler beats being a property manager. You actually get another bonus for every job you do."

"You didn't have to drag my search party into this. They don't deserve this..."

Corden shot a disgusted glare at Plotz's response.

"Oh please! Stop acting like you really care! You said yourself they would just mess things up for you. And you know what, you were right. So don't fool me into thinking they, or _I_ actually meant something to you!"

Surprisingly, Plotz felt a small pain in his chest at hearing that. His words actually hurt. Corden helped make the last few months easier to bear; not only did he listen to him, he was an advisor. And now that he thought of it, Plotz never really showed him that he appreciated that.

"Besides, I know all about your track record with your former secretaries, you would have gotten rid of me in less than a year."

_No, I wouldn't have…_

A knock on the door came. Lionel opened the door. JW Globwobbler sauntered in the office with a prideful smirk as if nothing were a problem. Plotz could feel his bubbling anger returning to him at full force. The other four stood at attention.

"Great job boys, I'm actually somewhat proud of you" The studio head looked up at his henchmen.

"Punctually is our thing, sir," Lionel answered proudly. Muguu arched an eyebrow at the stout man.

"Somewhat proud? Why not fully?" he asked. J.W bore his dagger-sharp eyes into Muguu's. He gripped at a loose folder on the desk.

"Because a certain someone didn't fully take care of them!" he shouted at him. The enormous bear suddenly started shaking before him. His belly jiggled out of his untucked shirt.

"Well, we-we stranded them in El Paso! D-Doesn't that show for s-something?!" the bear fumbled with his words.

"Not if they still found their way here! You idiot!" J.W. hurled the folder at his chest, its loose papers fell at his feet. It was really odd to see a big guy like Muguu tremble before someone who was under half his size and height. Plotz probably would have laughed if the situation wasn't so hostile. Lionel and Siba did that for him.

"Got you there chap!" Lionel quipped.

"Shut it, Lionel! I'm holding you and Siba responsible for this muck up too!" J.W barked, pointing a meaty finger at his face. Lionel shivered briefly, backing away from his boss.

Shiny beads of sweat glistened from his and Muguu's heads. And although he couldn't see it, he could feel the sweat dripping from Siba as well. Corden was the only content person in the room right now. Everyone went completely silent for what felt like a minute.

J.W. paused and took a few deep breaths. Tiny creaks could be heard when he gripped at the wooden desk. He stepped forward to give Muguu a comforting pat on the shoulder. The grungy bear let out a sigh of relief at his boss's vanishing temper.

"Ah Muguu, I can't stay mad at you. Even though you started this mess. I commend you for fixing it" the man's grin returned. "You three, get out of here."

Lionel and Muguu obediently filed out of the office room. Corden followed close behind.

"Corden, what are you doing?"

"I was dismissed, right?" The secretary stopped in his tracks.

"I said you three. Not four."

"But what about Siba? Someone has to keep Plotz bound"

"Siba!" J.W. yelled at the furry snakelike freak.

Siba started hacking and coughing near Plotz's ear. Out the corner of his eye, Plotz could see a long trail of brown rope dripped out of his mouth. He shivered when he felt the gooey rope bind to his wrist. Within seconds, Siba tied up his wrists in a neat bowtie knot. A tingling sensation returned in Plotz's fingers. As tight as it was, it was nowhere near as firm as Siba's circulation cutting grip. Siba scurried out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Only three toons remained in the room. A ticking clock steadily broke the uncomfortable silence. Corden was standing in front of the door now. J.W. sat down behind the wooden desk. He remained silent as he pulled a small silver box from his shirt pocket. The man that was supposed to be his business partner sickeningly smiled at him. Plotz's nostrils flared as he sat there wondering what the first thing he would say to him, and how was he going to get out of this?

"Mr. Plotz, why don't you calm down? You look a little flushed in the head" J.W broke the silence.

"Don't talk me like that you son of a bitch!" Plotz snarled. Despite his temper, he rarely got coarse with his words.

"Whoa Plotz, such language. Very unprofessional for businessmen." J.W. smile remained unfazed.

"I don't see any business men just two low down crooks!" Plotz lunged forward to throttle him. The front legs of his chair tipped over, causing him to smack his forehead against the wooden desk. Corden sat him upright again.

_Tied up, right…_

"Now is that any way to talk to your businesses partner?" J.W. 's smile disappeared. "You signed a contract"

"Oh yeah, well as your business partner, I say you untie me and let the others go!"

"Oh, I'm afraid you can't do that Plotz. You see, that contract only applies to your financial woes. This is completely different."

"You stealing my biggest stars isn't a financial woe?! l need to see your copy of the contract" Ploz shifted in his seat, careful to not tip himself over again. J.W. shifted in his own seat as he nonchalantly opened a silver box. He picked out one of the many cigars laid inside.

"I'm sorry but, I've misplaced mine."

"You what?! What do you mean you misplaced it?!" Hearing this only made Plotz even madder.

"Don't worry I still have yours." J.W took out a freshly printed document and slid it across the desk towards him.

Plotz's excitement turned to confusion when he saw the document before him. The partnership was still there as planned, but there were a few alterations. Instead of any further actions being carried out under his say so, it was Globwobbler's. The reassignment of a fraction of Warner Bros employees was notably absent. ACME Labs would be signed over to Globwobber and on top of that, there was a blank spot for a new signature. Plotz's signature.

"What the hell is this?! Where is the other one I signed?!" Plotz blew the document away.

Globwobber suddenly took out another piece of paper. It was crinkled and stained, but it was exact same document Plotz signed over two days ago. Before Plotz could say anything else, he held a lighter over the contract. It burnt within seconds.

"What other one?" he blew away some of the contract's burning ash flakes.

"You didn't…" Plotz eyes widened.

"I didn't do anything," J.W. interjected. "At least not something you can prove"

Plotz swore that once he got out here, he'd make sure J.W. would rot behind bars. But now, even if he was able to get out of here, he doubted he could take him to court. Globwobber had covered his tracks in one swift action. Without a copy of the real contract, Plotz couldn't prove anything. He was stuck.

"Why are you even doing this?! Whats the point of all this nonsense?" Plotz yelled. J.W. didn't respond at first. He lit the cigar before taking a puff.

"Plotz, you how hard it is to keep a studio afloat?"

"Of course I do. Why do _you_ care? _Your_ studio is doing okay."

"Okay isn't good enough for me, Plotz. Okay doesn't leave an impact. It's not bad, but it's not good either. I need stars to make it more than just okay. But its filled with pathetic toon acts that still want another chance at hitting the big time." J.W. complained.

"So? Hire more toons, more recent toons" Plotz stressed. J.W. swung his chair until his back faced him.

"Ah true, I could do that, except there are two problems. One: signing a new toon onboard with a studio is a very lengthy and expensive process. It's much cheaper to sign up has-beens, because they don't need to audition, and they already have experience in show business."

_Damn, why didn't I ever think of that?_

"Two: you can bring hundreds of toons in, but how many of them will matter...?"

Plotz sort of understood what he was talking about. He himself could recall so many toons at Warner Bros that faced that same dilemma. Cool Cat, Herman, and Bosko were just a few examples. It was surprising how many toons with so much potential, failed to last with the public.

"….And those are the hardest to get. The ones that have a knack to connect with the audiences, even when they're off the air. The Bugs Bunny's the Mickey Mouse's, The Warners…." J.W turned around to face him. "Then it hit me, instead of trying to get famous toons, why not make them?"

"What did you do?! What do you want with the Warners?

"It's not really what I wanted with Warners. It's that they had a problem with what I wanted."

"That isn't answering my question."

"Then shut up and listen. I read an ACME Lab article a little while back. One about those two lab mice. They had promoted some ongoing cloning experiment. You remember anything about that?"

"Yeah, what of it?" Plotz vaguely remembered. It was put on hold when both mice were stuck in a fumigated cage for radiation for at least 3 months. On top of that, the entire project was pooling up an excessive budget. A situation he didn't like at all. Since ACME Labs was considered Warner Bros property, Plotz ordered that the project be put on hiatus until the studio's financial problems could be resolved.

"I needed somebody to help my dream become a reality. So I put my hat in the ring and decided, to help out…"

XXXXX

Scratchensniff woke up to the sound of light dripping and low moaning. Through his cracked glasses, he attempted to get his bearings. The dim lighting was not helping at all. His hands felt around the dirt covered floor. The faint scent of thinner lingered in the air, but it wasn't strong enough to knock him back out. From what he could see, he was in a large cell. A blinking ceiling light shone through the rows of iron bars before him. Another series of grunts came a few seconds later.

"Ohh…" a deep moan roused his attention. Something was in the far left corner of the cell. What he thought was an old sack was actually a person huddled in a corner. Scratchy scooted back when he saw it move. When his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he could see who it was. The toon's bright green shirt shone through the dark.

"Lucky?" he called out, softly.

"Scratchensniff?" the cop's head perked up. Lucky sat up at attention, he looked even worse than before. Bruises welled all over his forearms. His black eye from earlier was darker this time around. "Scratchensniff what you are doing here?!" His voice was noticeably hoarse. Even in the dark, he could see the worry on his face.

"We ver trying to find you!"

"Where are the others?" A soft gasp came out. Both of them looked to the far right corner of the room, two other people were sprawled on the floor. One of them got on their knees.

"Scratchensniff? Dr. Scratchensiff!" Nurse voice called out.

"Nurse thank goodness you're alright. Vhere's Ralph?" The guard in question was still lying on the dirt floor. Nurse started shaking him to get him up.

"Ralph? Ralph wake up!"

"Five more minutes ma…" he uttered between snores. She shook him some more.

"Ralph!"

"Huh, What?!" Ralph got up and rubbed his eyes. "Where are we?"

"Were, were in the hotel's basement…" Lucky began to explain, his legs trembling as he got on his feet.

"Are you alright?" Scratchy came over to help him up. Lucky shooed him away.

"Yeah, I'm still standing. They've held Bonkers and me here since last night. Asked us if we knew anything... "He winced in pain after raising one of his arms.

"You're hurt" Nurse stood at attention.

"No, no I'm fine! Agh! They took Bonkers!" Dropping to one knee, the detective clutched at his right shoulder. She ignored his plea and came right over.

"Lucky. I know a fractured shoulder when I see it!" Nurse pulled a first aid kit out of her hammerspace. The detective barely protested when she unwrapped a roll of bandage. "Now hold still…"

A few minutes had passed, Nurse had his arm safely secured in a sling. Lucky sat in silence while Nurse made a few more adjustments to it. He let out a pained moan.

"Try not exert yourself too much. It will heal quicker" she instructed. Lucky glanced at his injury with a pitiful frown.

"At least it wasn't my good arm. Look, about what I said back when we started this trip" Lucky half fumbled with his words. "I'm sorry I got you all into this mess"

"Lucky its okay, we knew the risk," said Nurse. Scratchy figured Lucky felt like a heel for refusing to bring Nurse along in the beginning. She turned out to be far more useful than he anticipated. In fact, the whole team probably overshot his expectations. The information they found over the past few days, trumped his original theory of the mice being the masterminds. But yet, they ended up here. And knowing that made him feel a little guilty.

"She's right, there's no use blaming yourself. You really pulled through for us." Scratchy reassured. The injured cop responded with a half smile.

"Well, look who's awake!" The sudden booming voice nearly made Scratchy jump. He turned around. Muguu stood before the iron bars separating him from the others. Wakkos prized red hat laid on the bear's head. Scratchy resisted the urge to reach out and snatch it off, Muguu would have no doubt snapped his arm in half. "You four gave me a lot more trouble than your worth. Dare I say it, you almost have those Warners beat."

"What did you do to them?" Scratchy yelled.

"What did ya do to the mice?!" Ralph pulled at the iron bars.

" And where's Mr. Plotz?!" Nurse added. The balding bear let out a yawn before answering their question.

"Plotz is having a nice little chat with Globwobber"

"Globwobber?" Scratchy asked.

"He's the guy behind this whole operation" Lucky replied bitterly.

"Please! He's more than that!" Muguu scoffed. "He's a visionary that's gonna make us TV stars!"

" TV stars? Why?" Nurse asked.

"Why not?" Muguu shrugged. "He knows its something me and my boys wanted for a long time."

Scratchy glared in disbelief at what he said. He clenched at the bars. Seriously? This was the reason why everyone at Warner Bros had been struggling for the past year?

"So you think kidnapping innocent toons is your way of doing it you…?!" Anger seeped into the psychiatrist's voice. He was cut off when Muguu bore a sharp claw in his face.

"Yeah, so?" Muguu answered harshly. "Globwobber says you gotta do whatever it takes to make it in life. That's how it is with us. I do something for him. He does something for me. It's simple."

"Simple?!" Nurse remarked in disgust.

"And let's be honest. Don't I look like somebody that belongs on the tube?" the bear raised a pumped bicep, giving a toothy grin to his captives.

"Maybe one sealed shut" Lucky muttered. The bear frowned when his bicep deflated on cue. "You said to be honest" The cop's defiant comments nearly caught Scratchy off guard. Yakko would have really liked this guy. Muguu let out a vicious low growl when he stuck his arm through the bars. The tip of his claw hooked onto Lucky's shirt. He gritted his teeth when his injured shoulder thunked against the bars.

"You've been running that smart mouth since last night" Muguu lowered his voice. "If you don't cut that out, I'll do that for you!"

"Bring Bonkers back in one piece, and I might consider. Otherwise, go to hell." The pudgy cop's face showed no sign of fear as he stared into the bear's glowering eyes.

Muguu's face burned bright red. Scratchy fearfully anticipated the beating Muguu was no doubt about to give. But instead with a groan, he let go of Lucky's shirt and began to walk away. Then a low chuckle came out, it was just as chilling as it was back at Slim's Scrapyard.

"Okay then, if that's what you want…" he reached into his pocket and pulled out something small and round. " But remember, you did say one piece"

He tossed the item into the cell. The item in question was a tiny ball that bounced at Lucky's feet. It had two small faint little holes in one side. And on top of that, it was bright red, just like Bonkers nose…

_Oh, God_

It didn't take long for Lucky to realize the same thing as he sprang up and lunged towards Muguu, nearly knocking Scratchensniff down in the process. The red-faced cop slung his good arm through the bars. Both Nurse and Ralph struggled to restrain him.

"You Goddamn son of a… Wait til I burst out here! I'll turn your ass into a throw rug! Ouch!" Lucky jerked in pain, holding onto his injured shoulder. Muguu looked on with a sadistic grin before he kicked at an old stray bowl on the ground.

"I'd love to stay, but Siba is going to be filling in for me. He loves company." He was about to leave when Scratchy mustered the will to speak again.

"What are you? You monster?!" he yelled. The bear stopped instantly. He slowly turned around to face the now regretful Scratchensniff.

"What am I?" Muguu responded as if it were a funny question. His furry feet shuffled on the ground. "Honest, I don't know. It's a funny story. Want to hear it?"

Scratchensniff didn't reply, not that he felt his opinion mattered. He waited as the bear cleared his throat.

"I knew a little bear once. His name was Bongo. He wore a red vest and stupid little fez on his head. Always rode his precious, unicycle. Happy, sweet as a button and obnoxiously cute, he thought he could show the world how special he was." Muguu's recitation was slow and steady. This must have been the first time he'd ever told the story to anybody else.

"I can still remember the movie he was in "Fun and Fancy Free" was it? But it flopped. Apparently, no one wanted to watch what was basically Fantasia table scraps. So years went on, odd jobs and small stints came his way. Farthest he ever got was a commercial for Grape Nuts." An edge of bitterness damped his voice.

"But his pea-brained head keep going in that little unicycle of his. Still doing the same shtick that didn't impress people then or now. But he had to let them know he was special. But one person knew, knew it so well he gave him his first audition in years. Know who it was?" Scratchy blinked for a moment. He wasn't' expecting to give an answer.

"Globwobber?" he replied softly. The satisfied smirk on Muguu's face proved he guessed correctly.

"The script was a simple soap commercial; lie down in a tub, wait for the water to fill the tub, count to 20, come out and say his lines. Simple deal. Bongo was so happy he rode his rusty little unicycle, all the way to JW's studio and right into the tub he'd have to lie in." the bear stared up at the flickering ceiling lamp.

"When it was time, there were no cameras, no crewmen, just him and Globwobber. The man gave him a sweet little pep talk before putting one of these…" he pulled out of the orange masks he and his gang had worn before. Scratchy was starting dread where this story was going.

"'Our buddy Bongo needs a bath' he mimicked J.W's voice as if he doing a standup routine. "He took Bongo's precious unicycle from him. Then he started pouring the water in… and then some other stuff too. Stuff that made his fur sting and sizzle. Stuff that made his lungs burn when he started swallowing it. Globwolbber had to stop him from chickening out" At this point, Muguu was right up against the iron bars again, A meaty paw stretching towards Scratchy's chest. By instinct, the psychiatrist backed away.

"Bongo was told to do one thing! Count to 20, and then he could come out. The little thing couldn't even do that! Last thing he did was whine and whine. 'Get me out of here! I want my unicycle, let me go, I want my unicycle!" he mocked Bongo's voice in a hauntingly high pitched voice. His muzzle was now pressing between the bars, almost touching Scratchensniff's face. Noxious paint fumes crept from his mouth. Out the corner of Scratchy's eyes, Lucky, Nurse, and Ralph looked on in solemn silence.

"You know the funniest part about it was? Bongo never got that unicycle back. Globwobber told him that once they were done, he wouldn't need it. I guess he was right." Another chuckle came. Muguu steadily pulled away before turning his back to him. His bare feet faded down the hall. "I didn't need it…."

XXXXX

By sheer coincidence, Globwobber was telling his version of Muguu's story around the same time. And it chilled Plotz just as well.

"...And so, little Muguu was born." the studio head finished his story. "And that's the first time I'd gotten my hand dirty."

"So, you killed a toon?!" Plotz was in complete outrage at what he just heard for the past few minutes. The details of what he did with Brain's experiment; the fake audition, and what he did to the toon named Bongo. It all made him sick to his stomach. Was he really this deranged?

"Ah, kill is a very harsh term of the word, I'd prefer, recycled, repurposed. A remodeling, a permanent remodeling." Globwobber raised a finger.

"How could Brain let you go through something like that?!"

"He didn't, I decided to test his experiment for him. And in my opinion, it led to a happy accident." he let out another puff of the cigar. "However, Brain didn't see it that way. The little rat and his partner bailed on me."

"Who wouldn't?" Plotz remarked. As over ambitious Brain was, Plotz knew even he had standards. J.W. ignored his comment as he continued explaining.

"When those mice left, I had to put everything on hold. But, I found a way to bring em back. With one thing."

"Corden" Plotz gritted his teeth. The studio head banged an imaginary ringer.

"Ha! We have a winner!" JW jeered. "And all he had to do was keep a low profile"

Hearing this made Plotz realize he hardly ever saw Corden roam the studio lot. In fact, he rarely ventured outside his office building. A brief smile returned to the secretary, who'd been quiet until now.

"Brain sent Globwobber a message that he decided to return with some 'hired help' for us" Corden explained, wincing his fingers on 'hired help'. "It just so happened to be the same time they would be flying out to Orlando with the Warners. It didn't take long for me to catch on what they were really doing."

The more Plotz listened, the more confused he became. So that was the real reason they were flying out of town? They weren't really going to Orlando for their movie. They were trying to stop Globwobbler? In a weird way, it actually made sense. Who better to get involved than a force more dangerous than any corrupt branch of the law? The zany Warners of course.

"With the trio on our case, this meant we had to improvise. All I had to do was get Muguu hidden on the plane's cargo hold without the mice knowing. When it was time take off, he'd come out and get em. And the rest is history."

"And it worked" J.W grinned. "When they were back in my arms, it was back to business. And just to make sure they stayed, I added some extra muscle to the team. Lionel, and Siba."

Plotz cursed under his breath. Based on what J.W. had already told him, this meant a few other innocent unknown toons suffered the same fate as Bongo. For the sake of his sanity, he dared not ask about their origin.

"But, you already took my greatest stars, why'd you have to go ahead and set my studio ablaze too?" Plotz wiggled in his chair.

"Honestly, the fire was just another accident. I only wanted Muguu and the gang to do two things, get the mice and destroy the evidence. And they did." said Globwobber. Plotz ground his teeth at his understatement.

"So, what do we do about the others?" Corden asked. Plotz knew he was referring to Scratchensniff and the gang. He hoped they were in a better situation than he was.

"Corden, I can't just let them go. What do you think?" J.W. coldly replied, barely making eye contact. Corden's nervous smile melted away at hearing that. Plotz heart sank, it didn't take a genius to know what he was considering.

"Globwobbler you can't be serious about that…" J.W didn't respond at his lackey's uneasiness. Plotz nearly scoffed at Corden's response. Now he was concerned about ethics? "Well… I think there is always your project. Muguu and his boys already helped out. Maybe, they can 'help out" too"

Somehow Plotz's heart sank even deeper when he realized what he was implying. The pudgy studio head pondered his suggestion, twiddling his cigar as if it was a tiny toy. After a few seconds, that familiar oily smile came back.

"Nice. Now that's why I like you Corden, ruthless but always creative" he patted Corden on the back. "You're dismissed," Corden said nothing as he walked around the desk and behind Plotz.

"Be grateful I did that" he muttered to him.

Plotz stared at his former secretary in incredulous shock. If this was his idea of sparing his search party's lives, then he might as well have them killed. Muguu and his gang were just mutated pawns in J.W.'s plan. The possibility of Scratchensniff and the others being turned into a bunch of ragtag freaks like them, or worse, made him furious. Corden made it to the door, it echoed when it slammed shut. Now it was just the two of them.

"Gotta say, I really didn't expect you to find out about this plan, how'd ya do it?" Globwobber twiddled his cigar, ash flakes falling to the floor.

Plotz silently shifted in his seat. He fought back the urge to tell them Slim was the partial reason he found about their plan. But then again, he had a feeling that if they knew Slim said anything, they'd have Muguu and his thugs pay him another 'visit'. The haunting image of the washed out Willie brother was something he'd never forget. As much as he hated Slim, nobody deserved that. Then there was Larry, the studio heads secretary. If J.W. kept him out of the loop like he suspected, mentioning him would just put a target on his head. He growled.

_Oh wait, I already did._

Globwobber's face soured when he realized he wasn't getting the answer he wanted.

"Not going to tell me? Fine! But I know damn well those detectives didn't do that for you"

"Do you realize how insane this plan is?!" Plotz yelled at him, wanting to keep the conversation on track.

"Nope, who cares if it's not the most ethical method of choice? I'm creating something the world has never seen before!" JW waived off his concern.

"If this is all your doing, what's left for me?" Plotz asked, even though he wanted nothing to do with this. J.W. took another puff of the cigar.

"Well, that's where you would come in. You would be my sales pitcher. Granted some of the details will have to be nixed out here and there, but you will be the one pushing my creation to the world. And it all starts by signing this…" he pushed forward the contract he'd brought out earlier. Plotz blew it right back.

"Like I'd ever do that for you" Plotz scoffed. J.W. got up from his chair. As he made his way around the table, the cigar smoke morphed and swirled around the two of them.

"You would be making a lot of people proud, a fellow business partner, your employees, the adoring public," He leaned close to his ear. "And maybe if he was still alive, Esther would too."

Plotz's entire body went stiff after hearing that name.

"How do you know about him?"

" Do you remember what he did when it was time to elect a new CEO years ago?"

"Yes, what does he have to-?"

Plotz paused for a moment. He really didn't know what he was on about. Then he remembered, Esther had a candidate he wanted to use to succeed him. His secretary. However, less than a few days after Esther left, Plotz fired him and…

_Oh, damn…_

If his hands weren't bound, he would have gladly buried his head between them. This whole thing felt like something out of a bad soap opera.

"Oh no… don't tell me, _you_ were his secretary?" Plotz groaned. He nearly flinched at the thud of J.W. grinding the half-burnt cigar into the wooden desk.

"Small world, isn't it?"

XXXX

"So as long as the Warners are here, Pinky and the Brain have to do what Globwobbler says" Scratchensniff explained.

The group spent the last few minutes recapping the information they gained since yesterday. It turned out aside from the info they found out earlier, Lucky hadn't been able to find out much else. Scratchy had just finished going through the last pages of Bonkers clue book.

"Put that away Scratchy! Everything in that book is what they've been trying to wring out of me since last night" said Lucky. Scratchy did as told and put the book back in his hammerspace. It still ached when he kept it there a day later.

"I still don't know how Bonkers snuck it on you when you weren't looking" Nurse wondered.

"Whatever he did, it was a smart move," said Lucky.

"We can vorry about that later! We need to get out of here!" Scratchy rattled at the bars. Sitting in this cage any longer was making him more anxious than usual.

"Forget it Scratchensniff, I've been trying that since I got here. We'll need the key. And Muguu is only one I know that has them" Lucky let out a sigh, slumping against the back wall "And even if we could get out of here, we have no idea where in this place the others are hidden. And those thugs are probably loaded with enough thinner to knock out Dumbo 100 times over"

"But we still gots to try something! We're so close!" Ralph exclaimed. He pushed Scratchensniff aside and pulled at the unbreakable bars. Scratchy shook his head at his futile attempt to break them.

_Beep! Eeb Eeep!_

"What was that?" Ralph stood up at attention. The raucous beeping came again, but where? Everyone looked around the entire cell, trying figure out where the hell the noise was coming from. It was coming from Lucky. The pudgy detective pulled out Bonker's nose from his pocket. Or at least he thought. Lucky's eyes widened when he stared at the tiny ball in his hands.

"No way… Bonkers you sly fox!" Lucky said under his breath. He took one finger and gently rubbed the top of it. Suddenly, the ball grew a pair of eyes and a horn appeared in its side. Scratchy rubbed his glasses clear to be sure his vision wasn't fooling him. And just when he thought this ordeal couldn't get any stranger. "Toots!"

An excited grin on its face, the honking ball jumped onto Lucky's shoulders squawking. Lucky flinched when it bounced on his bad shoulder. He quickly pulled it off him to rub the top of its head.

"Calm down, calm down! I'll tell em" The tiny horn's clamoring subsided into a few quiet squeaks. Behind Scratchensniff, him Nurse and Ralph started at the little wonder slack-jawed.

"I is lost" Ralph stated, completely dumbfounded.

"For once I'm with you" Nurse added.

"This is Toots. He's Bonkers pet horn. Don't ask, he just is" Lucky explained. Scratchy wasn't too surprised. Bonkers is already a walking ball of hyperactive energy, what better pet than one that accented his personality?

"Bonkers must have snuck him along with us before we left yesterday…" Lucky barely finished his statement as he tended to the frantic horn hopping in his hands. "What are you doing here?! Where is Bonkers?!" The bouncing horn responded with another round of snarks and squeaks in his dusty palms. "He's… in a room several floors up with the Wanrers. They're all trapped inside"

"They really are here?!" Ralph exclaimed.

"You understand him? How?" Scratchensniff rubbed his head.

"Trust me, I barely know myself" Lucky replied. The red ball tugged at Lucky shirt tail, dragging him towards the iron bars.

"Hey! Hey! I know you wanna show me, but I can't get out of here!" said Lucky. Frowning, the horn drooped onto the floor. Lucky coddled the small horn in his hands. "It's okay, you tried your best…" A low sound of hissing came down the hall. Lucky's eyes widened along with everyone else's."Damn…"

Scratchy already knew who it was. It was Siba, and he was less than a minute away heading towards them. Toots quickly disappeared into Lucky's shirt pocket, quietly shivering inside. Thankfully the little thing was smart enough to stay out sight. Toots was probably the only aid they had right now, but as long they were under watch, there was nothing much they could do.

"Wait! I have an idea!" Nurse whispered. All eyes locked onto her. The timing couldn't have been any more impeccable. "But you all have to pretend to be asleep. And Doctor, get the book ready."

Even with the knowing nod she gave him, Scratchensniff still didn't fully understand what she was planning on. Suddenly he remembered Bonkers heavy clue book hidden in his hammerspace. Then, he got it. He gave her a nod back.


	17. Gang out of Bounds

XXXX

8:30 AM

Nurse prayed this idea would work. She hated the idea of doing this, but she hoped it would give them the break they needed. There was practically no time to practice her improvised plan. It was now or never.

A light hissing sent chills up her spine. Siba slithered along the dirt ground, bumping into a wooden chair. A set of keys dangled around his waist, keys they would need to get out of here. He coiled around the legs of the chair and rested on the seat like a balled python. His determined beady eyes bore straight at his captives.

Nurse's idea came when she mused over the more 'diplomatic' ways the Warners would get out of their predicaments. Wakko would probably eat his out, Yakko would talk his way out, but Dot would use her cute charm. And that was it! Charm.

Since Muguu felt comfortable with letting Siba act as the watchman, he probably wasn't too concerned about her and the others being too much trouble. Siba looked like he was a simple-minded brute. If that was true, it meant he could be easily persuaded. She gave a brief glance at the Scratchensniff and the other guys in the cell with her. They were 'asleep', oblivious to what she was attempting to do. She scooted to the edge of the bars.

_Here goes nothing..._

"Siba?"

The snaky rat-like thing said nothing, his stoic expression remained in place. She tried a little harder.

"Siba… Siba" she cooed, a flirtatious hum to her voice. "Won't you please let us out?"

Still, nothing. It was time to put the secret weapon in place. Out of her pocket came the 'Slink Mink' perfume bottle she'd gotten from Minerva earlier. She sprayed it in several puffs of hot pink, making her cough. It was just as artificially sweet and cloying as she imagined.

"Won't you let me out? Did you come down here to see me?" This time, Siba turned towards her, pursing his lips. She had his attention. But still, he said nothing. "I see, you're the strong silent types. I've always liked men like that"

"I work, for Muguu. I have to be here" Siba replied icily. Nurse flicked some of the loose strands of hair out of her face. She took out some lipstick, something she rarely used, and slowly circled it around her lips. The ferret-like thing's eyes locked into hers, a clouded yellow gaze in them.

"Please you're your own man, I know why really you wanted to be down here" Nurse replied, ignoring how forced she sounded. After a few more seconds of gawking, Siba shook his head before returning to his serious gaze.

She was hoping she wouldn't have to resort to this. It was time to be brash. Nurse spread out one of her legs and began gently sliding off one of her socks. After tossing it to the side, she stuck her bare foot through the bars. Her naked toes twiddled on the grimy floor.

Just as she hoped and feared, Siba's eyes locked onto her foot. For extra measure, she took off the other sock and flung it at him. This got the freaks mouth drooling. She cast her line, now it was time reel it in.

"Wow…" he moaned.

"You want to see more?" She lowered her voice. The ferret-like freak got off the chair and scurried up to the bars. His long tail scurried along the floor before it began to wrap around the cell's bars. He squeezed his head in between two with ease.

"Yes…" He whispered between hisses. Nurse lured him in with her finger. The tiny tip of his tail lifted off the ground and coiled around her finger. It was surprisingly soft and smooth, a big contrast to the sensation of being strangled with what felt like scaly knotted ropes. She pulled it away.

"Well come in, tough guy" she cringed. In fact, everything she said so far was making her very uncomfortable. Minerva and even Dot were far better at sweet the talking game than she ever was. Maybe it was a good thing she never got many speaking lines on the show.

Siba quietly slithered his entire body through the bars. Nurse pressed her back against the wall and took off her visor. When she tossed it at Siba, he picked it up and sniffed. He got closer and closer.

Every single cell in her body jittered uncontrollably. Nurse fought the urge not to scream, but she knew if she pulled away, it would ruin the act. But yet the bruises around her arms and neck started to tingle with pain at feeling his scaly skin again. She dreaded the possibility of Siba rendering her unconsciousness like he did from yesterday's ambush. It was time to end this.

So, she began unfastening the top button of her shirt. With each one she undid, Siba hacked and barked in excitement, his tail shooting behind him in a stiff rod.

"You ready?" She held onto the edges of her shirt. Siba nodded in anticipation, drool splattering onto her arms. Ignoring it, she went for the kill.

"One, two …"

And right before she opened her shirt. Ralph jumped in front of her, completely shirtless.

"Peek a boo!" He yelled, exposing his hairy flabby chest.

Horrified and screaming, Siba hadn't noticed Bonkers book in the guard's hands. And by the time he did, it was brought right down on his noggin.

_Thump!_

"Pervert!" The guard kicked at the growing lump on the mutant's head. He slipped his blue shirt back on.

"Nice going, Ralphie!" Scratchensniff got from the ground just as he and the others gathered their belongings. "Thank goodness that's over"

"Was it that bad?" Nurse asked meekly. Lucky knelt down near Siba's unconscious body.

"Femme Fatale you're not. But at least this guy was too dumb to know that" Lucky replied. He stuck his good arm through the weasel's hammerspace for anything useful. Inside was a few coils of rope. Lucky passed the rope to Nurse, who immediately used it to bind Siba's legs together.

"Oh ho! Looks like Christmas came early!" Lucky's face brightened as he pulled out the next few items. The first was one of the orange masks. A pair of gloves came a moment later. But the oddest item Lucky found was an empty capped off syringe filled with some sort of black liquid. "Wonder what this was for?"

"I don't know, but I have a feeling vell find out soon," said Scratchensniff. He grabbed the keys and stuck his noodle arms through the bars. Once he unlocked the door, Nurse along with everyone else peeled out of the cell. He swung it back and relocked it, leaving Siba tied up on the floor.

"I still can't believe that worked" Nurse muttered.

After escaping their prison, the group hastily ran down the hallway and into a nearby hotel room. Nurse closed the door quickly but quietly enough to not make noise. It wasn't a moment too soon, as the sound of unknown footsteps came down the hallway a second later. They waited until the footsteps faded into silence.

"So vhats next? Toots knows vhere the Varners are. Ve could just go ahead und break them out." Scratchensniff spoke to the others.

"We can. But as long as that thinner is still around, Muguu and his friends have the upper advantage." Lucky replied. "We only have one mask, and one pair of gloves." Nurse groaned at how true he was. Right now they had a small sliver of time to do what they needed to do, and it was fading fast. It was here she noticed Ralph staring at the door, scrunching his face with mad determination.

"But they's have to get to it first!" Ralph lumbered just ahead of them and opened the door. He took a couple steps down the hallway "I is gonna find it."

"Ralph wait!" Nurse grabbed him by the back of his shirt. "If you're going to do that, you're going to need someone with you!"

She felt someone tap her shoulder. Behind her, Lucky handed out the gloves and mask he picked up from Siba. She took them.

"Good idea Nurse, while you two are doing that, I'll hunt down Warners and the mice, and hopefully well find Mr. Plotz too" Lucky dutifully answered. "Come on, Scratchensniff!"

"Really?" Scratchy gazed at him in disbelief.

"It's the Warners. I'll need an expert's help" said Lucky. He grinned at him with a renewed sense of determination of his own.

Scratchensniff responded with a similar smile. He adjusted his cracked glasses. "Alright, let's go."

Without another word, the group spilt into pairs and went opposite directions down the next hallway. Nurse was glad to know that the detective counted on all of them to finish this rescue. Lucky had stuck his neck out for the entire trip. It was time they returned the favor.

XXXX

8:40 AM

Scratchensniff shot another look behind him. There was still no one there. Despite that only a few minutes passed since the group had split up, he was getting very concerned with each passing second. He wondered how long it would be before Siba recovered and came after them.

_"Beep Beep!_ "

"Shh! Quiet Toots!" Lucky shushed the energetic red ball. It bounced several feet ahead of him, showing the men the way. Toots led them up two flights of stairs to the top floor of the building. Scratchensnifff's stomach clenched tight as he looked around the floor they'd stepped onto. The scent of mildew, trash, and who knows what else lingered from the many open hotel rooms. But none of the fresh paint, which was a good sign. The only sound they could hear was creaking wood underneath their own footprints.

While Toots kept his beeping under control, his panting and whistling grew more and more with each foot they traveled. The little horn guided them around a corner. Sure enough, they could hear a low humming noise coming from the down the hallway. Finally, Toots reached the last door on the left side of the hall.

"I don't believe it, he actually found it?" Scratchensniff muttered.

"Only one way to know" Lucky replied. Suddenly, the horn backed himself into a corner.

_"Honk honk! Aoooogggahh!"_

Lucky and Scratchensniff shushed him. But, Toots continued to bark and squeak up a storm.

"Hey, what the matter with you?!" Lucky warned, struggling to keep his voice down. Scratchensniff noticed that Toots wasn't smiling this time around. Oddly enough, he could sense a twang of urgency in his beeps. "What do you mean someone's -ulp!"

When Lucky didn't finish that sentence, Scratchy turned around to see a horrible sight.

The arms of an unknown assailant had wrapped an arm around Lucky's head, the other around his good arm. Lucky hunched over in pain as he attempted to shake off the person struggling to keep him stable. When Scratchensniff saw the person's face, he recognized him instantly.

"C- Corden?" Scratchensniff. His head jerked his head back at the last person he expected to see.

"I don't want to hurt him. But I will you don't move away from the door," said Corden. The secretary's hands shook as he restrained the detective.

"So-ouch! So the surprises just never end." Lucky sourly admitted.

"How you know we'd be here?" Scratchy asked, his fists clenching at his sides. Corden narrowed his eyes at him.

"I'm a property manager first and a secretary second. I think I would know every nook and cranny of this place. Now back off! It's for your own good."

"For our own good? How so?" Lucky asked with heavy sarcasm. Corden tightened his grip causing Lucky to wince in pain.

"I'm the only person who's keeping Globwobbler from letting his gang waste you! You go in there and try to play the hero, he'll send his men after you and kill you! Is that what you want?"

"I don't care what they do me! I'm not letting those freaks take away Bonkers!" Lucky growled.

"Vhat do you want us to do?" Scratchensniff asked.

"Just step away from the door. And we'll figure out a way of out this. Dr. Scratchensniff you're a voice of reason, you should understand."

Scratchy stood in place. An uneasy feeling quenched within his gut when something crept up his backside. He glanced behind him; Toots appeared as a tiny lump underneath his sweater. Light snarls could be heard from within. He gave a tiny nod before he looked at Corden. Slowly he walked towards him, the secretary's face relaxing the closer he got.

"Scratchy no!" Lucky grunted. He let out another pained moaned.

"You really want to help us? And get the Warners too?"Scratchy asked Corden.

"Trust me. We'll get them all. Yakko, Wakko, and Dottie" The desperate tone in Corden's voice vanished, and that was all Scratchensniff needed to hear.

"You are a much better liar than Slim, D.L."

"What?!" Corden gasped. Scratchensniff took a few steps back from him.

"Toots!"

The rabid red ball burst out of Scratchy's collar, gnashing a pair of teeth. Toots latched onto Corden's nose with a loud chomp, causing the secretary to howl in pain. This distraction gave Lucky a chance to wriggle out of his grasp. The secretary managed to wring Toots off his nose and flung him straight into a wall. Toots smacked the wall with a tiny beep. Unfortunately for Corden, this also gave Lucky a chance to wind up his good arm. Corden wasn't even ready.

_Thwack!_

In an instant, Corden fell to the hardwood floor. A tiny moan came as he laid motionless on the ground.

"Heh, still good" Lucky blew on his fist with a smirk. His expression changed when he immediately knelt down to where Toots silently rolled on the ground. Cradled in Lucky's hands; the little ball's horn drooped down. "Toots, you alright?"

" _Meep, meep…_ " the horn beeped softly with a nod.

"Oh thank God…" Lucky gave a sigh of relief. Scratchy came forward and knelt down to his height.

"I'm sorry Lucky I didn't mean to..."

"No, it's alright. He'll be fine" Lucky interrupted softly.

"Lucky what you said about Bonkers a moment ago. You meant that?"Scratchensniff asked him. The detective let out a deep sigh.

"Bonkers is more than just a partner. As annoying and stupid he is, he's all I got. He's, a friend. A really good one. I know that sounds stupid but…"

"Lucky, I understand" Scratchy replied. A small smile was Lucky's response. For the first time in the entire investigation, Scratchensniff felt that he and Lucky were on the same page.

"Ready?" Lucky motioned to the door. Toots disappeared into his shirt pocket as they got up. The door continued to hum. Scratchensinff slowly reached out and gripped the doorknob. He felt a tiny jolt. He wasn't sure if the tingling sensation was from the static shock or the dread at what possibly lay inside. Pushing that aside, he opened the door.

The two men were met with the rush of cold air. It came from a large air conditioner off in a corner. Scratchy figured this must have been the hotel's storage room at one point. The biggest clue was the half-naked shelves, sparsely dressed with boxes and suitcases crowding the walls. Paperwork littered the wooden desk in the middle of the room. Old glasses and vases were repurposed as beakers and test tubes. It was like a compact version of Brains' secret lab, but a lot more cluttered. But the main thing that caught his attention was right on top of the wooden desk in the middle of it all.

In front of him were the toons everyone had spent the last few days looking for. They sat inside a tiny dented cage. Grime and dirt ruffled their white fur. The taller one of the two looked up to them, a bright smile appeared on his face.

"Pinky?!" Scratchy exclaimed.

"Dr. Scratchensniff?! Oh goody, you decided to join our vacation too!" Pinky, obliviously cheerful as ever, ran towards the edge of the cage. It was here Scratchy noticed a chain around his foot. The skinny mouse dragged something round and heavy in his wake. A round ball made up of rubber bands and bandages bounced behind him. A ball with a mouse's familiar odd shaped noggin, sticking out like an odd tumor.

"For the hundredth time Pinky, this is not a vacation!" Brain's head helplessly rolled back. "Now, help me up."

"Brain, vhat's going on?" the psychiatrist asked. Pinky set his lab partner upright, but not before he started bouncing him like a basketball.

"Hahaha! Look! I'm Lebron James!" he giggled. Brain's head repeatedly smacked against the wooden table, much to his discomfort.

"Pinky. Stop it, Pinky!" Brain thrust himself in the air and flattened his associate with a single bounce. Pinky sprawled down on table seeing stars.

"Another dunk, Narf!"

"Can either one of you gentlemen get me out of these restraints?"

Scratchensniff opened the cage and pulled both mice out. He gently placed them on the desk. Lucky grabbed a small shard of glass off to the side while Scratchy held the ball in place. Slowly, he cut it against a red band just underneath Brain's chin. It snapped, and so did the rest of the ball, showering both he and Scratchy with rubber bands. The shorter mouse gave a sigh of relief, stretching his arms and legs. Scratchy reached in to unlock the chain still conjoining them together when Lucky stopped him.

"Not yet. These two got a lot to explain to us" he replied.

"I'm afraid it's a long story." Brain stated.

"Take all the time you need, we're not going anywhere"

"I am afraid time isn't what we have. Any minute now those henchmen will be on their way back. And I know that won't be enough to prove our innocence"

"It's okay, ve know vhat's going on. Globwobber is forcing you to vork on his project…" Said Scratchy. The little mouse shook his head before he could say any more.

"I'm afraid you don't, Scratchensniff. I didn't work on his project. Globwobbler hijacked mine!"

"Yours? What was your 'project'? Lucky asked.

"My initial goal was to successfully create the perfect vegetable. One with the all the daily nutrients and vitamins needed for human consumption." He explained a matter of fact.

"Why would you need to do that?"

Brian flung some loose eraser shavings along the desk with the flick of his wrist.

"To become a major competitor in the food industry, form a monopoly, end world hunger, and eventually use it to…" He shrugged. "Well, you know…"

"No, know what?" Lucky replied. Brain frowned in befuddlement. Scratchensniff could tell he clearly wasn't expecting that response.

"Honestly, you don't know?"

"What? What don't I know?" Lucky pressed with impatience.

"But it's on our show! We have done it so many times I thought everyone knew" Pinky mentioned.

"Pinky, I think somebody has finally surpassed you in the art of unawareness." Brain turned to him.

"Awareness in what?!" Lucky yelled.

"To take over the world!" the mice shouted at him. Lucky gave a questioning glance at Scratchensniff.

"It's a side hobby they do," Scratchy commented.

The detective rolled his eyes and grumbled. "Whatever, so what happened?"

"All of our experiments ended with error after error. Unfortunately, by March of last year, the project was proving to be a very expensive process. I needed an extra source of financial backing. And it also turned out J.W Globwobber was interested in that department. D.L, or Corden as you all know, was the one that introduced me to him."

"He had a really nice voice! Almost reminded of Bob Saget!" Pinky giggled.

"Pinky, stop before I decide to hurt you. Again" Brain warned. The taller mouse covered his mouth just as Brain reached for a pencil.

"Right, quiet now. Narf!"

"With Corden as our financial middleman, I was able to continue with my project. All of our materials were covered, and we had full access to an empty hangar at Globwobbler studio on weekends. It was almost complete. All I had to do was decide what type of specimen would perfect to use on it.

"So when did using paint thinner become a part of it?" Lucky asked sternly. Brain closed his eyes, one of his fists clenched tight.

"It was never supposed to. Thinner is a corrosive medium. It would have been a counterproductive addition to what I was trying to do.

"But not for what Globwobbler wanted to do. And he needed it to keep the Warners under control." Scratchy reasoned.

"Oh, Thinner does more than that. It creates a complicated chemical reaction that breaks a toon down to its basic elements. It can change, rearrange, transform. Globwobber is far from a scientist, but even he understood that simple fact. Which is why he took it upon himself to add the toxic material to the experiment one night when I wasn't present.

"But if he's making his own line of mutant toons that way, why didn't he mutate the Warners while he was at it?" Lucky wondered.

"A well-planned experiment needs a control variable. Something has to remain the same in order to see how the change has occurred. And also, for cosmetic reasons." Brain grimaced at uttering those last two words "Look over there."

Lucky and Scratchensniff looked to where Brain was pointing. Across the room was a tray of empty syringes set on another sparsely filled shelf. Scratchensniff took out the filled syringe they swiped off Siba.

"What are they for?" Scratchensniff asked.

"They were used to draw raw ink straight from the Warners bloodstream. Apparently, the mutant's bodies are very unstable, so occasionally, they have to be replenished with fresh ink in order to retain their coloring"

"Geez, This is like something out of a SyFy movie" Lucky held up on of the empty syringes.

"Please, those movies are an insult to the field of science" Brain scoffed.

"Brain, why didn't you tell anyone?" asked Scratchensniff, getting the conversation back on track. "Globwobber was the one that created Muguu and the others. Not you."

"But I can't prove that!" Brains voice rose in volume. "All the blueprints, all hours providing a service to him in secret, the materials I needed to purchase. All of that is my name…!" Lucky and Scratchensniff looked on in silence as the guilt-ridden mouse hung his enormous head. This was strange coming from the mad scientist. He actually felt regretful at what he did "…And all of that can and will be used against me."

"So basically if you try to take him down, he'll take you with him" Lucky summarized. The shorter mouse nodded his head.

"What I want to know is know how the Warners got involved." Scratchy wondered.

Brain shifted uncomfortably where he stood. It didn't take long for Pinky to notice this as he stopped smiling and turned to him.

"Brain…" he uttered softly. The shorter mouse looked up with a solemn frown before turning back to Scratchensniff.

"I didn't trust anyone else. I had to think out of the cage in how I could apprehend Globwobber. So, I-I turned to them"

"You took them with you?!" Scratchy responded, failing to hide how upset he was.

"Scratchensniff, please! I was against the idea as much as you would have been! But once they knew, they insisted that they wanted to help me, regardless of the danger. The plan was that all five of us would head to Globwobbers studio to expose Globwobber for the crook he was. "

"But you forgot about Corden. Didn't you?" Lucky commented.

Brain nodded his head." If only I had known he was hiding right under our noses...I would have never told the Warners yes.

"So what happened after they were caught?"

"It turned out that Globwobber relocated Warners, and all of the materials I used to this remote location. So I spent countless months trying to find it, hoping I could bring them back before any harm came to them."

Scratchensniff didn't have to look hard to see that Brain wasn't lying. He could sense the humiliation in his tone. Everything he'd said up till right now matched with the information they already knew. The secrecy surrounding the Warners and the mice now made a lot more sense. It was all from a botched attempt to reveal J.W' s cover-up.

"But as you can see, I failed. It's my fault the Warners are where they are now."

Scratchensniff had heard enough. He brought his face down to Brains eye level.

"Not yet you haven't. Brain, tell me where the Varners are, right now!" he demanded.

Brian stared at him dumbfounded. He knew the mouse was not used to him being so direct. But the psychiatrist was not the same one moping about a few days earlier. He was not going accept that they were gone. Not anymore. The short mouse pointed to his left.

"Behind the curtain."

Scratchensniff cocked his head in Brain's direction. A thick curtain laid before him. It stretched high and tall enough to function as a makeshift wall. He'd barely noticed it among the extra clutter piled up in front of it. In the middle was a tiny gap. When he pulled it back, his heart almost stopped. All the frustration and stress that welled up inside of him over past year completely vanished at what laid before him.

They were laid out on a long flat table. A fluorescent light shone down on them from above. Their chests slowly but steadily rose up and down underneath their ruffled black fur. Each of their red noses faded into a dull burgundy. Scratchensniff had to rub his glasses to confirm what he was seeing was not an illusion. The Warners were here, and he'd found them.

"I can't believe it…" Lucky whispered.

Scratchensniff was too overcome with emotions to even think straight. He wanted to run over and coddle them, praying that this wasn't another trick.

"Are they…" he croaked.

"Dying? No. But they are unconscious." Brain replied.

"It's going to be tricky carrying thee unconscious toons out of here without being noticed" Lucky shook his head.

"I agree, which is why in spite of our recent predicament, I was able to create a small agent solution. Just in case the Warners need some extra adrenaline to get out."

"Oh, like Red Bull!" Pinky spouted. Brian rubbed his hand into his own face.

"Pinky it's not…! Okay, its sort like that."

"Well, where is it?" Lucky asked.

"Unfortunately, I don't know. Lionel confiscated from me before I could use it."

" Vhat did it look like?" Scrathcensniff asked before he began searching the various shelves around him.

"It was a small orange vile with a tiny opening to insert…"

"You mean that like little tube on the shelf?" Pinky asked. He pointed his finger upward. Everyone looked up to see a tiny vile perched on a shelf attached to the wall. It was a good few feet off the floor. Brain ground his teeth as he grabbed Pinky by the shoulders.

"Pinky, you're telling me that our means of solving our dilemma was just out of reach, and you didn't tell me?!" anger seeped into the shorter mouse's voice.

"You never asked!" Pinky shrugged. Another swift whack of a pencil was Brain's response. Pinky hit the desk seeing stars again.

"It's a shame you weren't employed at Guantanamo Bay Pinky. You'd be a perfect torture device."

"Gee, is it too late to apply? Narf!" Pinky moaned.

Scratchensniff went ahead and grabbed the vile from the shelf. Lucky handed him the tray of syringes. He took one and uncapped it. Carefully, he poked the tip into the vile. Releasing the plunge, the liquid quickly seeped inside. Scratchensiff looked at the comatose Warners lying before him. He started with Dot. The youngest sibling's arm felt limp and cold in his shaking hands.

"Be careful! Add too little, and it won't work. Add too much and you'll pop their veins and drown them. Or our situation will be more hopeless than it is now." Brain warned.

"Optimistic, aren't you?" Lucky grumbled.

"I find optimism illogical."

"I thought it meant that it's time to see the eye doctor!" Pinky commented. He flinched just as Brain rose the pencil above his head, threating to whack him with it again.

"Just add no more than half of the solution for each of them."

Scratchensniff took a deep breath to calm himself. His hands no longer shook as he brought the needle tip into Dot's arm. Slowly he pushed down, letting half of the liquid seep inside her arm. Once that was done, he did the same for Wakko and Yakko. No one dared say a word as Scratchensniff handled each shot as well as Nurse might have done.

The aging psychiatrist stood back in silence when he was finished. Everyone patiently waited for anything to happen. But nothing came. The Warners were as motionless as they were before.

"No… no!" Scratchensniff whimpered. He leaned over the table, burying his head in his arms. Suddenly everything seemed to crash down around him. His mind began to fret over the horrible possibility that he'd somehow screwed up.

_Have I given them too much? I couldn't have! I came all this way! Oh God, I'm so sorry..._

But then he saw something. Their tiny eyes began to flicker, their red noses glowed with vibrancy. The younger Warner siblings twitched and turned with every passing second. Dot creaked her head from side to side. Wakko managed to lift his head up, it shook as if it were weighted down. Dot's eyes opened, and she saw him.

"It's… it's...!" she gasped breathlessly. Her younger brother struggled to lift himself up, his limbs wobbling the entire time. When he did, he turned to him as well.

"Scratchensniff?" a tiny breath came out of him.

"Dot! Wakko! It- It's me!" Scratchensniff voice broke. His eyes began to moisten and sting. The eldest Warner sat straight up. His mouth hung open as he stared in nothingness.

"Scratchy?" Yakko whispered. He blinked hard as soon as he said that name. Slowly he looked right into Scratchensniff's eyes. And then, that familiar eager smile grew on his lips. "Well, what do ya know?"

"Yakko… Yakko!" Scratchesniff smiled, it was the biggest one he'd made in decades. Tears began to run down his face.

"I gotta say when Plotz sent out a rescue team this isn't..."

"Shut up, Yakko" The psychiatrist didn't waste another moment before he embraced all three siblings in his arms. Their ruffled black fur felt cold and damp against his own skin. Tears continued to spill down his face and onto the Warners themselves. He felt the warmness returning in the skin beneath their fur. His tight grip loosened a bit when the Warners wrapped their own arms around him as well. His tears damped the collar of his sweater, but he didn't care. He let the rest of world fade away. None of it mattered right now. After so many stressful days, and after many sleepless nights. They were back. The hug lasted for a full minute when Scratchensniff finally gained the will to let go.

"I thought you three were gone for good." he wiped his eyes.

" I told you Scratchy, it takes more than a plane crash to keep us down," Yakko stated. Dot started rummaging into Scratchensniff's pockets.

"Please tell me you brought a mirror, I haven't seen myself in days!" she gasped.

"Dot we all look the same, just look at us" Wakko answered. Both he and Yakko gave wide toothy grins.

"Still not a good substitute" Dot arched back in disgust.

"You look fine Dot." Scratchensniff smiled. "All of you..." Yakko peered over Scratchy's shoulder where Lucky stood.

"Whoa, no offense Michelle Phifer, but eh…..you might want to take up a Zumba class" he said. Scratchensniff chuckled. It has only been a few seconds Yakko regained consciousness, and he was already cracking jokes.

"Ha ha!" the detective dryly responded. "I'm Lucky Piquel, detective for the Los Angeles Police Department"

The trio sprang over Scratchy's head and onto Lucky's chest. The psychiatrist was surprised at how they managed to get back up so quickly, maybe he had given too much of the agent.

"So pickle man! How do know about us?" Yakko rubbed a fist into his hair. One of his feet landed on Lucky's bad shoulder.

"Ow! Get off!" Lucky yelled.

"Can we call you Eddie? You look like an Eddie to me." Dot asked, pulling at one of Lucky's flabby cheeks.

"Call me Eddie Valiant and you're a dead- hey don't eat that!" Lucky yelled as Wakko plucked his badge off his shirt. Wakko froze with his mouth wide open.

"But I'm hungry, and our new friend didn't have any," said Wakko.

"What new friend?"

Wakko pointed over to a dark corner. Scratchy was surprised he hadn't noticed it until now. Someone was tied to a chair with duct tape wrapped around their arms, legs, and face. But underneath the tape was that bright orange fur.

"Bonkers!" Lucky placed the Warners on the ground and ran over to the bobcat. Scratchensniff joined Lucky as they started pulling away the tape. When they were almost done, Lucky ripped off a strip pressed against Bonker's muzzle. He gave a relieved sigh to see Bonker's real nose hidden underneath. After that, he yanked the last strip one from his mouth.

"Yeecoh!" Bonkers screeched. He shook his head and slowly stirred into focus. Wide-eyed and panting, he perked his head up at Lucky's softening face.

"Lucky, I had the most horrible dream, you were there, and you, and you…" his eyes darted around each and everyone in the room. His gaze returned to Lucky's "And…Lucky why are your eyes red?"

The detective embraced him with a one-armed hug, a single tear coming from his eye.

"Damn onions!" Lucky sniffed. "Good to have you back, Bonkers"

Scratchy had to admit. Seeing a tough guy like Lucky nearly break down, was truly an odd but comforting sight.

"Oh, I just love reunions!" Pinky bawled grabbed Brain in a tight hug, the shorter mouse scowled as he continued to be drenched in his tears.

"I must admit that is rather, touching" Brain's voice softened. A tiny beeping interrupted the mood.

_"Beep Beep! Awooo! Beep!"_

Toots popped out of Lucky's shirt and into Bonkers hands. Bonkers smiled as he brought the happy ball to his face.

"Oh, there you are Toots! You really pulled through little guy!" The tiny horn rubbed himself against Bonkers cheek before disappearing inside his shirt pocket.

"Why didn't you tell me you brought him along?" Lucky asked.

"You never asked," said Bonkers. He turned to the Warners and reached out his hand. "It's fantastic to finally meet you guys!"

"So, Bonkers. You know you sound a lot less annoying in person" said Yakko as he shook his hand.

"And you three look lot less like Mickey Mouse!" he flicked one of Yakko's ears. "Blow those up babies and you'd be a perfect match!"

He chuckled at his own joke. None of the Warners laughed at that.

"Come on! I'm just joking! Where's your sense of humor?"

"Tee-hee" Dot and Wakko droned lifelessly.

"You just helped save our lives doc, don't push it," Yakko warned him. He was about to say something else when Brain cleared his throat.

"Excuse me" Brain interrupted. "As much I'd love to enjoy this pointless banter, I need to remind ourselves that we have more pressing matters to deal with. Muguu and his thugs are still out there. And that agent in your bodies will only last for one hour."

"So? One hour is all we need" Dot cracked her knuckles.

"Hey wait a minute, what happened to my hat?" Wakko frowned when he touched the top of his head. Scratchy almost didn't want to tell him.

"I'm sorry Vakko, Mr. Muguu still has it" Scratchy guiltily admitted. Bonkers face went into a hard scowl.

"That lousy brute stole it?! Well then, let's go get it back!" the bobcat whipped out a green baseball bat from his hammerspace. Wakko responded with a mischievous grin, whipping out his own trusty mallet.

"Whoa hoa! Now you're talking!" Yakko clapped his hands. "Come on sibs! It's time to show those guys a lesson!"

He and his siblings march towards to the door, each one taking prideful strides in every step. It was almost impossible to tell they were unconscious just minutes before.

"Come, Pinky! You and I must go alert the local authorities. There is a nearby radio station where we can get a better signal" Brain said as he hopped down from the table. Pinky did the same and followed after him.

"But I don't want to miss all the fun Brain!" he whined.

"It'll have to wait!" he looked up at Lucky who knelt down to his height. The detective handed him his badge.

"Tell em, Lucky sent you" he answered. The mice barely made it a few feet out the door when the eldest sibling blocked the doorway.

"Brain! We need you two to do one more thing for us!" said Yakko.

Brain paused, he turned around with a guilty frown. "No, I've done more than enough for you at your expense"

Yakko knelt down to his height. For a moment, a wave of seriousness spread across his face. A rarity for him.

"Brain, we can throw a pity party about this later, but we really need your help this time. Please."

The mouse stood in silence for a few seconds, letting out another sigh.

"Alright, what is it?" he asked. Yakko's smile returned when he leaned in and whispered in the mouse's ear. Pinky leaned in to listen to his request. His face broke into a bright smile while Brains reeled back in shock.

"What?! Absolutely not!" Brain exclaimed, a chagrined scowl on his face.

"Come on! It'll be fun!" Yakko goaded.

"No!"

"You always said you have a voice for it!" Pinky shook Brain's shoulder.

"Do not encourage them, Pinky!" Brain turned his back to him and crossed his arms.

"But Brain, don't you want to take down Globwobber?" Pinky asked.

"Please!" The Warner trio pleaded in unison.

Brain glanced over at the Warners standing before. It was a big mistake. All three of their eyes sparkled at him with manipulatively huge grins.

"Are they always like this?" Lucky muttered in Scratchensniff's ear.

"Yes, and I wouldn't change them for the world" he replied truthfully. A warm smile was the detective's response.

"You know what, I don't blame you"

Everyone patiently waited for Brain to answer. The mouse's frown faltered for a quick moment, with a regretful groan he finally gave in.

"Fine, but this is a great misuse of my abilities…"

XXXX

8:50 AM

Ralph stuck his head through the 5th empty hotel room he'd searched so far. When he saw nothing, he closed the door.

"Anything in there?" Nurse asked.

"Nope," he replied. Minutes went past as the odd pair scoured through various rooms inside the building. Every now and then they hunkered into an empty one as soon as they heard any noise. Each passing minute made Ralph more anxious and nervous. This building wasn't that big, and Muguu and his crew would be onto to them very soon.

At one point Nurse opened another door. Inside on a pile of broken wood planks, were crushed remained of what used to be CPU and a monitor.

"Looks like we found the Warners message room…" Nurse peered into the dark room.

A brief gush of wind shivered Ralph's backside. He looked behind him to see where it came from. Around a corner was a short hallway. Right at the end of it, bits of sunlight peered in from a large open window leading outside. All of it was partially hidden by loose wooden boards and electric wires that hanging from the ceiling. Ralph tiptoed over the trash and fallen chunks of drywall to get a closer look. Carefully ducking in between the loose wires, he reached the edge of the window sill.

Peaking outside the second story window, he could see a small ditch right below him. One its edges hugged the hotel's wall. It was filled with a thick chunky mixture of trash and what he hoped was raw sewage. Just to the left of Ralph was something he hadn't noticed before. It was another a door. Ralph took a deep breath as he cautiously gripped the doorknob and opened it.

That all too familiar smell tickled his nose. The entire floor was littered with several unopened jugs of thinner. Each of them carelessly strewn about. While Ralph was never good at counting, he knew there had to be at least 30 if not more.

"Nurse!" Ralph yelled, almost forgetting they were supposed to be hiding. Nurse appeared at the edge of the hallway.

She shushed him. "What is Ralph?"

"Look!" he whispered, pointing at the door. Nurse hobbled over the trash and peered inside. When she did, she practically jumped for joy and hugged him.

"Yes! You did it! Thank you!" she said.

"Oh, you're welcome" Ralph blushed. It had been a long time since anybody thanked him for anything.

Nurse took out the mask and gloves they found earlier and put them on. She glanced outside the window.

"Okay, you can bring the jugs out, and I'll pour them outside," she said.

"Huh?"

"This stuff is very flammable. Spill some in the wrong place and we could ignite this place sky high. Ready?"

"Okay" Ralph handed her the first jug.

When Nurse opened it, she faced the opening away out the window, away from her face. Ralph help his breath to be careful. He watched her carefully pour the liquid down into the ditch below. Once all of it was out, she tossed the jug just as Ralph would give her two more. They would do this again and again. Within minutes, they had a nice sized lethal puddle of thinner forming in the middle of the ditch. Ralph was to about to hand her what he thought was their 20th jug when something broke the eerie silence.

"What was that?" Nurse asked, her face full of worry. Ralph cupped a hand over his ears, facing it towards the hallway. Although he couldn't make out the words, he recognized that gruff voice and posh accent instantly. His stomach quenched once he smelled that familiar paint scent.

"It's them!" he whispered.

"No! No, we still need more time!" Nurse exclaimed.

She was right. If they got caught here, there was no doubt that it wouldn't end well for anyone. Muguu and Lionel weren't gullible like Siba. And neither of them were nowhere near strong enough to fight them off. He desperately thought of what the Warners would do in this kind of problem. If he couldn't think of something soon, they'd be caught at the end of this hallway with nowhere to run.

_Wait…run!_

He looked down at his small black shoes. The soles at the bottom were still worn from his last chase almost two days ago. It was time to see if they could last another one. He began to weave his way out through the short hallway.

"Ralph what you are doing?!" Nurse began to protest when Ralph shushed him.

"I is gonna buy us some time." He replied.

Nurse gave a pained frown. She glanced at the few leftover jugs they needed to dump.

"Okay, but what are you going to do?" Nurse asked. The guard smiled.

"What I do's best" Without another word, he ran off without looking back. He could hear her close the door, a tiny click of a lock came a second later. Ralph was glad Nurse didn't try to talk him out what he was about to do. As smart as she was, she still believed in an idiot him. He'd always appreciate that. However, now wasn't the time to dwell on that. He breathed deeply as he let his nose guide him to where his adversaries were located.

"Still can't believe the clerk didn't give me those cigars…" Muguu voice echoed just ahead of him.

"Well, you did break the post rack trying to get them..." Lionel responded.

His feet creaked against the floor. Ralph could hear their voices getting louder as he walked further along. He stopped just a few inches away from the edge of another hallway. His back pressed against the wall. Within the air was that familiar acrid scent of wet paint he'd grown to dislike. Ralph peeked around the corner and there they were.

"Hey, pass that needle" Muguu spoke as he entered into an empty room, one Ralph had searched just minutes before.

"Sure, chap…" Lionel followed right behind him. In his hand was black needle just like the one Lucky found on Siba earlier. Pushing that thought out of his mind, he sucked in his gut and marched out.

_This is a stupid plan, but stupid is what I do best._

Ralph ran for it. The guard breezed right by the room Muguu and Lionel were in. He made sure every step he made was loud enough to catch their attention. He screeched to halt, just time in to see the two goons burst out of the room.

"Hi" Ralph sheepishly waved at towering toons standing before him.

"What?!" Muguu growled. Ralph quickly noticed his fur returned to his normal shade of brown.

"What did you do to Siba you rotten chap?!" Lionel yelled at him, it was the first time he'd seen him genuinely upset.

"I-I threw the book at em!" Ralph spat back, showing no ounce of fear in his voice. Lionel cracked his knuckles. He slipped the brass knuckle on his right hand when Muguu held out an arm in front of him.

"No, go get Siba! After that, come find me!" he ordered him.

"Really? Muguu I…!"

"Lionel, The fat ass is mine! Go!" Muguu flashed his sharp teeth at him. Lionel narrowed his eyes at him before nodding his head. Muguu watched him run further down the opposite end of the hallway. When he disappeared, he returned his gaze to Ralph. "Now, how'd you get out?"

Ralph jogged in place, his feet revving up like a restarted car engine.

"Duh, yous have to catch me to find out! Bye!" In an instant Ralph was gone, but not for long. A guttural roar crept up his backside. Behind him, the enormous bear was right on his tail, slamming against the walls. His size 11 feet plowed through the trash on the ground, making him stumble with every other step.

Ralph had no idea where he was going, but he knew he had to keep his distance from him. He breezed down a flight of stairs, Muguu tumbled and rolled down from behind. At the last step was an exit leading outside.

When he went through the exit, the harsh bright sunlight made him his eyes squint. He took a deep breath. After being trapped inside, the fishy air was surprisingly welcome change. Another roar came. Ralph almost wished he didn't glance back. Muguuu clawed his way out the doorway. Kicking dust in his wake, the bear got down all fours and made a beeline right for him. At one point Muguu sprang in the air. This was just fine for Ralph, he was just getting started.

Ralph took a sharp left on rusted out Mercury convertible right in front of him. Not a second too soon, Muguu's fangs landed right into the car's hood.

"Hey, hold still goddammit!" Muguu yelled as he spat hunks of metal of metal from his mouth.

"You still gotta catch me!" Ralph teased him. He jumped out of the way just as lunged for him.

The two of them weaved in out of various piles of rubble sprinkled around the hotel. While the guard dodged each obstacle with ease, the bear knocked into each and every one like a hairy pinball. Ralph grabbed at spare pieces of driftwood and tossed in them Muguu's path. The obstacles made him tumble and somersault over the dusty land. The furious bear began to pant and sweat as he refused to show any sign of slowing down. At this point, Ralph realized that the more he ran, the less terrified he became. Muguu may have been stronger and bigger, but he wasn't faster. And knowing that somehow made the situation, fun.

_So this is why the Warners liked being chased by me_

The only problem was this, how long could he keep it up?

XXXX

8:55 AM

Plotz and J.W Globwobber sat in silence for a few seconds. Plotz hung his head to the floor, taking in the everything he'd heard over the last several minutes.

"What are you thinking about Plotz?" Globwobbler asked bluntly.

"How could my father ever associate with a man like you?" Plotz arched back in disgust.

"I was a different man back then, a stupid and clueless one. But the more worked under him, I realized something. I think the reason your father wanted me to be his candidate is because I was like you…"

"Please, I'm nothing like you!" Plotz spat back. J.W leaned back in the chair he sat in, the oily smile returning to his face.

"Oh, more than you know. It's something we lack. Can you guess what that is, Mr. Plotz?"

"What, hair?" Plotz answered irritably. He was not in the mood for guessing games.

"No."

"Patience?

"No, but mine is running out" J.W's smile faltered as he said this.

"Well Just shut it and tell me!" Plotz yelled at him.

"Talent."

The CEO's mouth hung open in silence, that word hit harder than he expected.

"What use is a toon without talent? I could never sing or dance, anything. And I doubt Esther showed you any of his tricks either. So what do you do when you don't have talent? You look for others that do have it, and that's something we're good at. And your father knew that."

"Like you really knew him!"

"Oh contrary Plotsy, Esther thought you were an excellent recruiter. It always irritated the hell out of him that you always brought in a new star before he could. And the worst part about was that he couldn't bring himself to admit how'd he'd written you off."

"Bull! He'd never told me that! Why would he tell you?" Plotz responded somewhat shaken. That didn't sound like anything Esther told him.

J.W. shrugged. "I don't know. But would it have mattered? Last time I checked you two weren't on speaking terms."

Plotz shifted in his seat as he struggled to think straight. Knowing J.W. was this familiar with his father's relationship made him very uncomfortable. Why did Esther reveal his personal gripes to him? They totally contradicted everything Plotz had come to know about his own father. If he really was proud, why didn't he tell him that before he left?

"Then again, I don't blame you for firing him, I probably would have done the same thing. But enough about what happened back then, let's focus on the here. And now." Globwobber pushed the contract in front of Plotz.

"So, here's a new deal, we forget everything that's happened to us. We can forget the studio fire, the kidnapping, everything, if….

If what?" Plotz asked.

"You legally sign the Warners and the mice, over to me. I keep them, you keep the studio, and they're all out of your hair. And for an added bonus, let me throw in a few millions while we're at it."

"What makes you so sure I'd sign this?"

"Because I've seen the show. You hate those three brats with a passion. But, you knew there was an opportunity to make a profit from them. Just like me. And that's what's I'm offering right now. An opportunity to make a profit."

He pulled out a pen and gently stuck the tip inside Plotz's mouth.

"So, Thaddeus Plotz. What's it going to be?"

Mr. Plotz stared down at the legal document before him. He glanced back at GW who contently crossed arms, waiting for him to sign it. This was everything he had been trying get the last few months. But the idea was no longer appealing to him. The reason he was even here right now, wasn't because of him. People like Scratchensniff, Nurse, Ralph, and all the other folks he'd dealt with these past few days. They were the ones that made a real difference in the decision he was about to make. And he knew what it would be. Then he remembered those last few words Esther told him before he was out of his life.

_Know what your most valuable assets are._

"Know what your most valuable assets are," Plotz uttered softly.

"What?" J.W rose an eyebrow, he was no longer smiling. Plotz hadn't realized he spoken aloud. The CEO spat out the pen and looked at him right in the eye with a sour frown.

"You said you understood me Blobwobber," he scoffed. "Esther showed me one trick" And in one swipe, Plotz's wrists slide of out of the bind. Globwobber looked on slack-jawed as the CEO stood up and flexed his sore wrists.

"You actually thought this was going to bait me?! Bringing up my past?!"

"I was hoping," J.W said with annoyance.

"You think that just because you worked for my father, that we have anything in common?! You're out of your mind! In all the 50 plus years I worked at Warner Bros, I looked for talent, begged for it, burned for it, but I never stole it! And I'm not going to start now!"

He picked up the contract. Without a moment of hesitation, he tore it in half.

"Plotz! What are you doing?!" Globwobber yelled.

"Something I should have done two nights ago." He crumpled the pieces of the new contract and tossed them to the floor. "And one more thing, I've never hated the Warners, I just don't like them. It's you I hate."

Before Plotz could lay into him some more, a soft buzzing interrupted the mood. A few crackles came afterward.

"What the hell?" Globwobber, understandably confused, looked up to the ceiling. Plotz did the same thing as well. In corner of the ceiling was a tiny speaker, one that had clearly hadn't been used in years.

" _Attention. We have a security breach in Room 16. Attention. We have a security breach in Room 16. It is highly advised to for all guests and members to evacuate the premises as soon as possible_. " a deep monotone voice came. Plotz gasped. Despite the crackling static, he recognized Brain's voice in a heartbeat.

_"Poit! And leave your cheese at the front desk on the way out!_ " A chirpy voice came out. It couldn't have been anyone else but Pinky. The mice were here, and they were okay. " _We hope you enjoyed your stay. Narf_!"

" _And, by request from a few 'patrons', coming up in a few minutes is a song dedicated to Mr. Globwobbe_ r" Brain returned, a bit of hesitation creeping into his voice. Plotz could tell someone had put him up this. But who?

"That rat is a dead man…" Globwobbler ground his hands on the desk.

" _Hello! Hello! Hello!_ " Three familiar voices sang in harmony.

It was the Warners. And for the first time in his life, Mr. Plotz was happy to hear them. Globwobber's reaction was nothing short of priceless. His eyes nearly bugged out of his face, which was now burning a bright shade of red.

"What the f-?!" he sputtered.

_"Watch the language big guy! Kids might be listening to this!_ " Yakko's voice cut him off.

The transmission cut off with a beep. A rumble came from upstairs. And for a moment, JW actually seemed nervous. His eyes stayed glued on the P.A speaker, his body shaking. Plotz watched the stunned studio head seethe behind his wooden desk.

"You were right about one thing Globwobber, I can't run the studio by myself. But that doesn't mean I need your help." Plotz turned his back on him and headed to the front door. "Now if you excuse me, I have a gang to rescue…"

A rough hand snatched at his shirt collar. Plotz yelped as he went flying back to the chair. It broke into several pieces as soon as he made contact. He moaned in pain from broken wooden legs pricking underneath his back. JW stood in front of the door. With a flick of his wrist, he locked it shut.

He pulled out a walkie-talkie from his pocket. "We got a break out boys, Don't let anyone leave!"

Plotz could feel himself running hot as he slowly got back on his feet. J.W. tossed the walkie-talkie to the side.

"Alright then Plotz. In that case..." The studio head began rolling up his sleeves, his hard biceps bulging from underneath. Plotz felt his own muscles tense as he prepared himself for what he knew was about to come next. "If we can't negotiate civilized and businesslike… Let's deal with this as men."

Plotz made a mad dash to the door, but not before Globwobber tackled him like a linebacker.


	18. Warners Out of Bounds

Chapter 17: Warners Out of Bounds

XXXX

8:56 AM

Nurse had just finished dumping the last jug of thinner when she heard the Warners message over the loudspeakers. She dropped the jug and ran. Along the way, she picked up a spare plank further down the hallway. There was no telling if she'd need to use it for self-defense. Within minutes she was back on the first floor. So far, it was clear. None of Muguu's gang appeared when she turned around the corner of another hallway. But then she saw a familiar face running into a doorway several feet ahead of her. Nurse picked up her pace and followed him inside a large room. The strewn aside tables near an info desk confirmed that it used to be the lobby.

"Doctor!" she called out. Scratchensniff looked back at her.

"Nurse!" he stopped to catch his breath. Nurse did likewise.

"Scratchenesniff, did you hear them?!" she said between breaths.

"Heard them?! I found them! The mice too!" he wheezed. "Vhere did Ralph go…?"

A guttural yell interrupted them. Both of them looked up in time to see the guard in question bursting through a set of double doors, right towards them. His screeching feet did not slow down at all.

"Ralph wait…!"

The big guard crashed into both of them, causing all three of them to fall to the grimy ground in one big dust cloud.

"Sorry" Ralph apologized as he got himself back up. Nurse's brushed off dirt from her damp skirt before helping Scratchy up.

"Ralph, are you alright?!" she asked. Ralph nodded, wiping beads of sweat from his bald head. His blue shirt was completely stained with sweat.

"Sure I ams. Doc did you find da Warners!"

Scratchy nodded before he ran to the double doors. "Yes, I did! But ve need to get out of here before…"

He slammed his shoulder into both doors, but they didn't move. Scratchy fell to the floor, rubbing one of his arms. It was the same one he'd been splashed with earlier.

"Wait! Let me try!" Ralph said. Nurse barely had a chance stop him before he started running to the door at full speed. She and Scratchy winced when his entire body smashed against the doors as well. He fell down seeing stars. The door hadn't budged in the slightest.

Suddenly, that familiar chilling chuckle came from outside. It was Muguu. A sliver of sunlight that bled through the ends of both doors suddenly went dark. Nurse pushed against the door in a fruitless attempt to open it. Tinkling chains from the other side jingled upon impact. No luck. This was going horribly wrong. Muguu and his crew already knew they escaped, and now they would make sure nobody would leave.

"You three just sit right there, me and my boys will deal with you soon" the bear's voice trailed off.

Ralph rammed himself against the door again a few more times. With a groan, he punched at it.

"Aww! Now what do we do?" the frustrated guard moaned.

The clang of a single discordant guitar riff made everyone jump. The out of nowhere sound was followed by a few seconds of silence. An occasional crackle or two. "What was that?"

Nurse shot a glance over at Scratchensniff. She had no idea what was going on, but judging from Scratchensniff's confident grin, she knew the answer was coming right now.

"It's them" was his reply. It was here she noticed something gripped in his hands. A blank vinyl cover. On it was a single taped on the label: "B-52- Party out of Bounds".

The riff returned, this time with a pulsating bassline and drum beat revving up behind it. A sound of glass broke out of nowhere.

"Aloha! The Warners yelled over the speakers. Nurse's face brightened at hearing those three voices she hadn't heard in a long time.

" _Thought we'd drop in_!" said Dot.

" _Who's up for karaoke?!"_ Wakko spoke after her.

" _Bear with us, we don't know all the words"_  Yakko added before he proceeded to sing.

" _Who's to blame when parties get out of hand? Who's to blame with kidnapping gets poorly planned?"_

" _A rowdy crowd. A mess you couldn't foresee. It could be worse if you invite us three!"_ Wakko sang after him.

" _Got to let out the fun!_  Dot chimed in after both her brothers.

" _Cant keep it in!_ Yakko interjected. Pretty soon both she and Yakko began alternating on every other line.

_Our zany reign has just begun!_

_Feel more repressed than a Catholic nun!_

_What do you need to party hardy? Champagne, charades, a cosplay of Hardy? Strip poker? Or all of the above…?!_

The pleasure at hearing their familiar voices was undercut by rumbling coming in various corners of the room. Everyone huddled close together, their backs facing each other. Nurse picked up the spare plank she dropped, her eyes remained glued to the doorway she'd come in earlier. It was the only other exit from this room. At one point, she thought she saw a faint shadow peaking in from it. Was it from the Warners? Plotz? Muguu and his friends? She mused over the worst possible scenario and figured this probably wouldn't be a bad way to go. Getting mauled by a bear and his lackeys all while kitschy 80s music played in the background.

"… _Shouldn't be difficult just give us a call."_ Yakko sang.

" _Okay, I'm going to get the pizza!"_ Wakko chirped.

" _Well bring some back and do tip well."_ Dot cut in before her and his brothers joined together, singing in perfect three-part harmony.

" _And please…Come back on the roundabout!_   _Gotta let the Warners out_!  _Gotta let the Warners out!_   _We forgot what this song about!_ "

The song ended with an abrupt halt.

"Surprise!" Three voices yelled from behind her back. She screamed. So did Ralph and Scratchy too. All three of them turned around to face whoever was here. Nurse swung the plank in her hand by instinct, almost hitting Ralph in the head by mistake. She dropped it when she realized who was standing in front of them. It was none other than the missing Warners.

"How many time have I told you three to stop sneaking up on people?!" Scratchy snapped at them, causing the trio to reel back with shock. Nurse almost chuckled. For a moment it felt just like old times.

"Whoa! What's up with you guys, you look like you've been kidnapped!" Yakko responded cheerfully.

"What's up with us?! What's up with you?! I, I can't believe you three are alright!" Nurse exclaimed. The jump scare they'd given her hadn't fully worn off. It was stunning to finally see that not only the Warners standing before her, but they were healthy and limber with barely a scratch.

"Dah, Warners, is it really you?" Ralph stepped forward.

The Warners gave each other a coy grin before jumping onto Ralph's chest. Each one planted a big smooch on his lips. Ralph keeled over, sputtering and rubbing his own tongue. The Warner brothers then took one at Nurse, and their jaws dropped. Dot rubbed her eyes.

"Helloooo…." they whooped. Their necks vibrated as they dragged out the last syllable for six seconds. "…Nurse!"

Nurse smiled. There was something oddly cathartic in hearing them say that after a very long time.

"That answer your question?" said Dot. A few grunts and footsteps roused their attention.

"Uh-oh. Looks like it's party time" Yakko commented. He pointed just over Nurse's shoulder. Everyone guided their attention to the doorway shed kept her eye on earlier. Lionel and Siba appeared, and neither of them looked happy.

"There back! There back!" Siba hacked in irritation. He sported a hastily wrapped bandage around his head.

"Oh look, more guests!" Dot chirped.

"Where's your friend? He still owes me a new paddleball" Yakko asked him. He rested an elbow against Ralph's gut. Lionel fumed silently as he pulled out bundles of metal chains from his hammerspace. They trembled and shook in his clenching fists.

"He's on his way. But frankly, I don't feel like being patient today" Lionel replied icily. Seeing Lionel's calm demeanor crumbling before her eyes were very unsettling. He'd been the most level-headed member of the Muguu's gang. But, now he seemed like he was a few hairs away from ripping them all apart. His brow furrowed when he looked down at Siba snarling near him. "And neither is he. So, which one of you destroyed our stash of thinner?"

"It was them!" The Warner trio pointed their fingers at Ralph, Scratchensniff, and her. Nurse groaned. Right now the Warners weren't being helpful. Lionel's expression remained unchanged. He cracked his knuckles.

"I see, Guess we'll have to make like jazz men and improvise"

Nurse watched Lionel wrap the chains into a tight knot around the door handle. Now they were trapped. She already had a feeling what plans Lionel had in mind for them. And he wanted to make sure Muguu didn't interfere.

"I'm getting serious ' _Thunderdome_ ' vibes from this" Yakko commented jokingly. Without warning, Wakko took a few steps forward.

"Vakko No!" Scratchensniff yelped. He nearly reached out to intervene when Dot stopped him. Nurse watched the middle sibling stare up at Lionel. He seemed almost naked without his signature red hat. His tongue perked out of his giddy smile.

"So, what game would you like to play?" he asked.

"We're not here to play games, chap" Lionel scrunched his face in disgust before snapping his fingers. "Siba."

Siba pounced. The weasel-like atrocity sprang into action, baring his sharp fangs right at Wakko's face. As soon as he moved, Wakko leaped several feet in the air causing him to miss. Wakko zipped just over Lionel's shoulder. Siba quickly caught on and doubled back towards the burly toon. Surprised, Lionel barely dodged the oncoming volley with a perfect split. Siba's stretchy body pulled over his shoulder, desperately reaching for Wakko behind him.

"Hey, twister! I know that game!" Wakko chirped. He sat right on top of Lionel's left foot. "Left leg on green!

Siba curled around one of Lionel's arms and right towards the foot where Wakko stood. The middle sibling dodged his fangs again, making him accidentally bit Lionel's ankle. Lionel screeched in pain before he started pulling Siba's head off of it.

"Right leg on blue!"

"Agh! Siba stop…!" Lionel was cut off when Wakko lodged a cork into his mouth. The game proceeded.

"Right shoulder on green!" Wakko shouted.

"Stophh twhat!" Lionel's voice was muffled. Lionel arched his fist back to lay a hit into Wakko. But Siba mindlessly lurched over his shoulder. He twisted around Lionel's bicep, giving him no chance to properly land it.

With each command Wakko gave, Siba twisted his elastic body roped around every limb of Lionel's body. Wakko was always one step ahead, dipping and darting out of the way before he could even lay finger on him. Nurse watched the taller thug disappear underneath the wraps of stretchy fur. And just like Siba had done with her before, he was left completely immobilized. Right at her feet, both Yakko and Dot eagerly looked on, genuinely invested in the game.

"Gotta say, they're much better at this game than I thought" Dot uttered briefly.

"No, kidding," said Yakko.

"Now. Yellow on the nose" said Wakko. This time he reminded perfectly still.

Siba's head strained to poke out the bundle of brown furry knots he'd created. It was propped up by Lionel's beefy hand hobbling across the ground. Siba's yellow eyes began popping out of their sockets, his face stretched to its zenith as he tried with all of his might to catch Wakko. Finally, he slumped to the ground, unable to move any further.

"Darn! You almost won!" Wakko chided him. He took out a large fork from his hammerspace. He stuck it in a chink within the bundle of knots and began twirling it until Siba's body wrapped around like strings of spaghetti. Lionel unraveled from the bundle in a sore heap on the ground.

Wakko made a sick face before he tossed up the bound mutant into the air. Nurse watched as Siba's body sail towards a window high up above the double doors. It smashed upon impact. She along with the others dodged the falling glass that came afterward.

"One down! One to go!" Yakko chirped.

Lionel got off the ground, coughing and rubbing at his sore arms. Nurse had to admit, seeing the tables turned on these guys was very satisfying.

"You rotten chaps!" Lionel growled. He slipped on his brass knuckle. " I should…!"

His statement was interrupted when Dot came forward in a shiny red dress. Lionel looked down at her in confusion when she grabbed his hand. Her feet tapped to the rhythm of a song, despite that the room was still completely silent.

"What are you doing?" Lionel asked.

"Someone told me  _you_  like to tango" Dot replied coyly. Nurse remembered her refusal to dance with Lionel in El Paso the other day.

"What?" Lionel looked down at the youngest Warner in befuddlement. Nurse expression matched his. How did Dot think that right now was a good time to bring this up?

"Please, I doubt those legs were made for dancing" Lionel scoffed. Dot clipped a pair of castanets in her hand.

"Want to bet?" she replied.

Music came on in the background. This time, however, it was Mid-tempo Latin-tinged rock music to suit the mood. Dot snapped her fingers, dancing in circles around the burly toon. She held out her hand for him to join her. He refused.

"Nope, that isn't going to work chap" Lionel defiantly turned his back to Dot, much to her chagrin. Dot continued to dance. Off to the side, her brothers played along, each of them shaking maracas to the beat of the music. But Lionel stood perfectly still, completely unamused at her persuasions. Nurse was completely lost at what was unfolding before her.

"Doctor, did you know about any of this?" Nurse asked Scratchesniff, hoping to get a better understanding of the Warner's game plan here.

"No, and even if I did. They'd never tell" he answered flatly.

The music got louder. Sure enough, Lionel's feet began tapping to the beat. His shoulders bobbed up and down. The derisive frown started melting away from his ape-like face. Slowly but surely, his inhibition vanished and he took her by the hand. It was here Nurse realized what Warners were doing now; they were playing on their kidnapper's quirks. Siba's elastic body shifting abilities, and Lionel's taste for music. And it was actually working.

Both Lionel and Dot danced to the rhythm in perfect synchronization. They held each other close, twirling their legs across the floor and matching each other's steps.

" _Bailar mi Hermana!"_ Wakko snapped his fingers to the music. " _Bailar mi Hermana_!

" _Hola mi amiga! Nintendo es la puta!_ " Yakko exclaimed.

"Do you even know what you just said?" His younger brother stared at him in shock.

"I know it's the only Spanish I know." Yakko shrugged. " _Macadamia!"_

"Nurse" Scratchensniff whispered to her. The psychiatrist pointed towards the locked door Lionel came from. Both Ralph and she snuck away while Lionel was preoccupied. As much as she hated to walk out on a performance, they had more pressing matters to deal with. Plotz was still somewhere in this building and they had to get him before something else happened. They hadn't seen any sign of him or Globwobber.

"Oh no!" Scratchensniff moaned when they reached the door. Lionel had somehow managed to dress the door handle in a twisting knot of chains. Ralph pulled at them. The knot only seemed to get tighter the more he did it.

"Oh, it's a Celtic knot!" Nurse groaned, she pried her dainty fingers into one of the gaps with no avail.

"How do you know that?" Ralph asked.

"I used to be a girl scout! Its the only knot I never learned how to make!"

Nurse was getting more impatient with each second. They had a window of opportunity that was shrinking fast. There had to be something else they could use to loosen the knot. Meanwhile, the dance between Lionel and Dot flourished for another minute. A small part of her wished she hadn't refused Lionel's offer to tango the other day. He was actually a great dancer. That feeling lasted for only a few seconds.

"You're good… for an amateur." Lionel spoke to Dot. The Warner sister then gave a hard tug on his arm. He winced when he nearly fell under his own weight.

"Come on! I was just getting started!" she replied sweetly.

The music picked up at a faster tempo. Soon enough Dot was yanking and twirling herself under Lionel's arm. Her high heels poked his feet and ankles, making him stumble and trip upon himself. Her jittery feet banged at his knees. Sweat started staining Lionel's outfit. It ruffled his shaggy hair to where to fell in front of his eyes.

Nurse wondered why he didn't just let go. But then a moment later she saw a bottle of rubble glue fall out of her dress. This was followed by her swinging Lionel in the air. A rubbery string of glue stretched between their hands. It snapped. Dot held out her arms to catch him falling right above her. Then she pulled out at the last second. Lionel's entire body hit the floor.

Huffing and puffing like mad, Lionel strained himself to get up. His outfit was dusty and tattered. The dizzy toon looked up to see Yakko staring him in the face.

"Hey buddy, you ever wondered where slam dancing came from?" Yakko asked him.

No." Lionel wheezed. For a brief moment, the sweet salsa music switched over to aggressive guitars of hardcore punk.

"Well here's your answer" Yakko moved out the way to make way for his younger brother. Wakko sported a green mohawk, wielding a giant mallet in his hands. He hopped and spun around, swinging his weapon of choice in a circle before raising it above his head. Lionel's pupils dilated before he took the full hit.

_Wham!_

The mallet slammed Lionel into a wall. Cracks formed along the surface at the impact zone.

"Really?" Dot arched an eye at her older brother.

"Like you could have thought up a better zinger" Yakko spat back.

Scratchensniff and Ralph still continued to loosen the chains with no luck. Nurse did as well before she stopped to think. An idea came to her, one she was surprised she didn't think of earlier.

"Wait, what are we doing? Wakko!"

Wakko ran over to them, leaving the mallet pressed up against the wall.

"Yes?"

"I'm really sorry I have to ask this, but Wakko can you eat the ch-?"

_Chomp!_

Broken chain links spilled out of the Warner's mouth. Wakko had taken one bite on the edge of the knot. He shuddered when he munched them down with a gulp.

"Ugh, Think I'll stick to the drywall" Wakko rubbed his lips. Nurse felt a little sick knowing that he'd been trapped in here for so long, he hadn't had a chance to eat real food. She and Scratchy started pulling away at the chains, which were now a lot looser. When they were all off, Nurse reached in to grip the door handle. Then she smelled the paint.

_Oh sh…_

"Move!" Scratchensniff yelled. He ripped her away from the door handle just as rusty curling claws burst out from a crack in the door. Splinters of wood came flying at her. Both of them backed up just as Ralph moved forward, stretching his arms out in front of them as a barrier. The door opened.

Mr. Muguu stood before them. His fur was ruffled with dirt and sweat. An old tire was draped around his neck. Nurse could tell that whatever Ralph did earlier, he'd given him a workout. But despite all this he calmly shut the door behind him, blocking any chance of sneaking around him.

"Did you lock me out, Lionel?" Muguu asked with mild annoyance. The hard scowl on his face hadn't broken at all since he'd arrived. His eyes stopped at Lionel. Lionel's arms and legs were now visible as he struggled to free himself from the mallet pressing him against the wall.

"Now that wasn't nice pal" he added before giving a low chuckle. "You're getting more like me"

Nurse found that typical. A psycho like him would condone this type of behavior. The bear's tiny smile vanished. It was here he noticed the Warner trio behind her, waving at him.

"Hey, Smokey!" Wakko yelled.

"Are you here to tell us not to start forest fires again? Yakko joked.

"You know the trashy look is so out of style!" Dot pointed at the tire around his neck.

The Warners were surprisingly chill being around their kidnapper, but Nurse remembered that was par for course when it came to any of their adversaries.

Muguu stared at the trio before him, snarling under his breath. The remaining green hairs poking through the red cap on his head began to spike up. He whipped out a jug of thinner from underneath his shirt and turned it upside down. This made Warners smiles disappear for a moment. Nothing came out. It was completely empty.

"Lionel hand me a spare. I'm fixing this right now…"

"It's… all gone" Lionel muffled voice interrupted.

"What?" The hard scowl on Muguu's face slowly disappeared. Lionel's lips breached just along the edge of the mallet.

"They dumped it all. They played us"

The empty jug fell from his jittering paw. Muguu was speechless. For the first time since they met him, he actually seemed a bit scared. Nurse smirked, their post- breakout plan worked out a lot better than she hoped for. And judging by the bear's reaction, he already figured it out.

"Now if you want us, you'll haves to play fair," said Ralph. He'd shown no sign trembling as he scowled at the bear in front of him.

Oddly enough, Muguu let out another chuckle. There was no way he'd ever laugh and not send chills up her spine. A malicious smile overcame his state his shock.

"Oh. Tubby is getting brave now. I'm impressed." he remarked with an oily smirk. His overgrown claws rubbed together when he cracked his knuckles. "But I don't need thinner to take care of you three or those Warners. No one is getting in or out!"

_Boom!_

A loud explosion nearly threw Nurse off her own feet. Smoke and dust went everywhere. Ignoring the ringing in her ears, she looked to where a nice size hole formed where front double doors once stood. Sunlight and dust poured into the room, and the silhouette of a familiar friend stood right in the middle.

"Jeez, this town is deader than a Kenny G concert" the gray squirrel waved at the excess smoke around her.

"Slappy?!" Nurse exclaimed. Next, to the Warners being okay, this was the best surprise they had yet. "How'd you…?"

"Call me Bruce Willis, but I'm on vacation here! Decided to drop in"

"Who the hell are you?" Muguu looked up. Slappy stepped over the rubble and came to where everyone else stood and looked up at Muguu towering above her. She said nothing while she polished her own glasses.

"You remind me of very stupid, Baloo." She commented. The bear shooed her away with one of his paws.

"It's Mr. Muguu. You old bag" the bear spat back.

Behind her, the Warners' mouths dropped open at hearing that. No one had ever responded back to Slappy whenever she did that bit.

"Now he's in for it…" Wakko muttered.

Slappy froze for a millisecond before she reached into her purse. A mischievous grin appeared on her face.

"Nah you're more of a Baloo to me. Matter of fact, today's his birthday" She took out a purple wrapped gift box and handed it to Ralph.

"Ralph why don't give this lug his birthday present?" she winked at him.

Nurse didn't understand what was happening right now. Ralph let out a tiny smile when he peeked inside. His frown returned when he carefully lifted the box up to Muguu's face.

"Um…here you go" he spoke with hesitation. Muguu snatched it out of his hands.

The bear twitched in confusion as he pulled the ribbon out of the box. Muguu jumped back at the sight of a large and muscular man bursting out of the box. Nurse and the others did likewise. Slappy on the other hand cooly rested her back against the wall. Nurse was less surprised at how this new guy managed to fit inside the box, and more surprised at how much he favored Ralph in appearance.

Dot's jaw hit the floor, hearts bubbled from her eyes. "Hello, male nurse!"

Her brothers looked at each and rolled their eyes.

"Really?" Yakko muttered.

"This the guy who's been messing with you, Ralph?" The man asked Ralph, not taking his eyes off of Muguu. Ralph stood in place completely wide-eyed. He nodded. This new person took two steps towards the bear. Muguu smirked. He reached out and rubbed his chin with one of his overgrown claws.

"So what, are you? Ralph 2.0?" the bear teased.

_Thwack!_

A single punch in his muzzle sent him sprawling onto the floor. A bell dinged out of nowhere. Nurse couldn't believe how quick the punch was.

"The names Paul, mac" the man rubbed at his knuckles.

"Aannnnd, down he goes!" Yakko stood from the sidelines as he spoke into a microphone.

"Ralph, who is that?" Nurse exclaimed, her eyes were still glued to the toon that beat Muguu in height by a few inches. Ralph crossed his arms before giving a proud grin.

"Dah, meet my big brother" he answered. A guttural snarl from Muguu regained their attention. The bear pounced onto Paul, pinning him to the ground. He let out a large roar strong enough to blow the tiny tuft of hair on Paul's head. Paul strained himself as he clenched his massive hands against the bear's jaws, struggling to keep them from closing.

"Uh oh looks like Smokey has him pinned down!" Yakko quipped. Muguu looked up strong indignation.

"It's Muguu!" he yelled. This brief loss of focus gave Paul another break. He let go of his jaws and socked him underneath his chin. For an extra measure, he kneed the Muguu in the gut with one leg and kicked him in the groin with the other. Muguu keeled over face first with a tiny yelp.

"Ooh, no need to go for low hanging fruit" Yakko winced. Paul ignored his comment and stood back up. The bear growled as he struggled to get on his feet.

"You gone wish you hadn't done…" Muguu never saw the elbow pound down on his head. Nurse barely noticed herself, then she realized that it didn't come from Paul.

Lucky suddenly appeared from behind Muguu. He looked up at Paul with a quick nod. Paul gave one right back. Muguu turned around, rubbing the sore lump that was forming on his head.

"What?! Where did you…?"

While his back was turned, Paul wrapped his massive arms around him, squeezing him into a headlock. His eyes and tongue bulged from his face, threatening to pop out. He squawked out various odd grunts when Lucky's good arm pounded into his gut.

"Oh! Oh! Looks like someone else has joined the fray." A familiar amplified voice called out. It was Bonkers. Her face brightened at seeing the orange cat coming to Yakko's side, safe and mostly unharmed.

"Oh, he's literally laying down the law on him!" Yakko bit his fingers. "Say would this be considered police brutality?"

"Not in this case, it's vigilante vengeance!" Bonkers played along. Another bell rung.

The two men continued their assault on the grungy animal. Nurse knew she was as far from a wrestling fan as she could get, and yet she found herself cheering alongside Ralph and everyone else. Lucky alternated between landing blows with his good hand and his kicking with his legs. He was really laying on a beating, despite the fact that his arm was still injured. Nurse had really grown to like this guy.

"I've got 20 bucks on the handsome big guy!" Dot waved a flag in her hand.

"I've got 40 on the one-armed cop!" Wakko exclaimed.

At the same time, Bonkers started dropping four boxes in a square position around them. Yakko followed close behind, stretching elastic bands around the perimeter. It created a makeshift fighting ring.

At one point, Lucky held the dizzy bear by the shoulders. Paul slammed various items from boxes to wood planks, oil barrels, everything including a kitchen sink. The resilient bear refused to stay down.

"Ahh! Look! He's coming back up!" Bonkers jumped at Muguu lurching towards Lucky, arching his arm back to land a punch. Paul pinned him to the ground, twisting and pulling on his legs like raw dough.

"I tell you, folks, this is more exciting than a brawl out with Gibson and Sheen!" said Yakko.

The tussling wrestlers disappeared in a cloud of dust. Each whack and punch could be felt from where she stood.

"It's tag team! A double team! It's a flat out anarchy team!" Bonkers screeched.

When the dust cleared, Paul stepped back several feet. He braced his back against the ring. "Hey, Ralph! Look what I learned from watching WWE!"

He stuck his head out and charged at Muguu full force. Muguu stood on his unsteady feet baring his fists to brace for impact. Nurse could feel her own stomach contract when Paul headbutted into his bruised gut.

The bear's massive body went flying out of the ring and right on the hard floor. A low moan came out upon impact. Lucky stepped out of the ring and planted a foot onto his furry chest.

"1, 2, 3, 4 and he's out! What do you think that?!" Bonkers cheered.

"I think that ol Smokey will need a nice full body cast before he gets put in the slammer! But he makes a nice throw rug…" Yakko added.

"Nice going man!" Paul slapped an arm on the detective's bad shoulder.

"Ouch!" Lucky yelled. "Thanks."

"Sorry" he apologized.

Wakko walked up to the semi-consciousness bear and snatched the red hat from his balding head.

"Thanks for keeping this warm for me" he gently placed it back on his own head.

"Well, that was easier done than said" Slappy dusted her hands.

"No kidding. That was a nice detour Slaps" Paul came to her side, massaging his knuckles.

"Though you'd like it ya big lug" she smiled, pinching one of his blushing cheeks.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Does this mean you and you are…?" Yakko cut in completely dumbfounded. He pointed at the two of them. A cheeky nod of Slappy's head was her response. Wakko arched an eyebrow at Yakko.

"You act like that's the weirdest thing in this entire adventure!" he responded.

"Well, it is!" Yakko threw his hands up.

Nurse held her head. This whole climax was just too much strangeness to take in one sitting. She hoped this would end sometime soon.

"I guess Paula Abdul was right, opposites do attract" Dot sighed, realizing her dream date was already spoken for.

"Save the dated ref's for later kid, you three owe a lot of folks an explanation' Slappy scolded.

"Aw, you make it sound like we're in trouble," said Wakko.

"Yeah, you…" Yakko stopped mid-sentence to look around. "Wait. Where's Scratchy?"

Shocked, Nurse did the same. He was right. The psychiatrist was nowhere in sight.

She looked over to the door where she and the others attempted to escape from earlier. It was still open. A trail of chains hung from the door handle to the floor.

"He must have gone to go find Plotz" Nurse answered.

"Oh no. See if you can find him, Slappy," Yakko spoke to her. A wave of concern spreading across his face.

"I ain't leaving you three" she spat back. Frowning, Yakko held onto her shoulders.

"Slappy, please! We have it under control now!" It was strange to see Yakko being serious for once. Nurse hoped Slappy wouldn't argue. Despite the fact that situation appeared to be under control, Nurse was still concerned for Scratchensniff's safety. And she appreciated that Yakko did too. He and his siblings were truly growing up.

"Alright, but don't think you three are off the hook!" The squirrel let out an irritated sigh.

"Fine when we get home, cut our Internet privileges for a year!" Yakko answered, that familiar snarkiness returning into his voice. Slappy rolled her eyes before she ran through the door.

"Now let's take care of some unfished business" Bonkers looked down at Muguu sprawled across the floor. Lionel was still stuck to the wall. Considering the beating they took, they'd probably need a full body cast. A necessity she'd gladly give to someone else.

Although she couldn't see it, Nurse could feel something was very wrong. Something she couldn't put her eye on. But then she looked off to the blast hole where Slappy made her entrance and up at the broken window above it. After a quick look around the room, it was right here she realized something painfully obvious. She stepped outside the hole. Someone else wasn't here, and she already knew who it was.

XXXX

9:10 AM

When was the last time Plotz fought anyone? Too long, he thought. Globwobbler had him pinned down to the ground. Plotz wriggled out of his grasp and socked him in the cheek. He reached up for a moment to grab the doorknob, only to be pulled down by Globwobbler.

Had anyone walked in expecting the fight of the century, would have been vastly disappointed. The last several minutes were nothing but two old grumpy men flopping and tussling around the office, like fish out of water. And the older of two was completely out of shape. The unfitting music of B-52's and Santana being played over the P.A speaker earlier was not helping at all.

At one point, Plotz dodged a thick-paged book thrown in his direction. It slammed into the wall, knocking over a picture frame. In retaliation, Plotz grabbed one of the loose legs from the broken chair to use as a club. Right when he swung it at him, Globwobbler blocked it.

Globwobber jerked his arm to his right, hurling Plotz to the floor. Plotz swore he felt something pop in his shoulder when he hit the floor. It was the same one he sprained in the car crash the other day. The throbbing pain in his shoulder was equally matched by Globwobbler stepping onto his gut, pressing his shoe in deep. Plotz moaned from the pain.

"You should have listened to me…we could have been a great team," J.W said sternly. The pain intensified when he whacked at both his ankles with the chair leg. "We wouldn't even need Muguu and his crew anymore!

"So you're just going to dump your hired help?!" Plotz asked him, even though he had no sympathy for any of those three lunatics. J.W whacked his ankles again.

"Why not?  _You_ almost did"

The indignation of his response sent a flaming surge throughout Plotz's body. He bucked from underneath Globwobbbler's weight and rolled off from under his feet. Plotz yanked him down by his tie, before following up with a right hook to the jaw. Then he thrust him down on the wooden desk, grabbing hold of his arms.

"You know, working for your dad was such a pain. You bust your back for someone. Only to be compared to his privileged son!" Globwobber grumbled, his cheeks pressing into the wood. "So I figured, I'd get the Warners and… and I'd be getting what's owed to me!"

Plotz pressed J.W.'s face further to the desk. He leaned down to speak into his ear.

"I don't owe you anything!" he said.

"Okay then…"

Plotz was about to say more when a small damp cloth pressed against his nose. It had that all too familiar stinging odor. He instantly became nauseous. This gave Globwobber his chance to escape this grip. Plotz could barely fight, as the thinner disrupted his ability to focus. The studio head pinned him to the wall, the cloth still pressed to his nose.

"I've never met a CEO more ridiculous and deluded like you" he sneered with an oily grin.

"Look who's talking." Plotz choked on his words.

"My, plan will go through with or without you. Good employees can always be replaced…"

"But good  _people_  can't!" Plotz coughed. Everything around him started to blur and go fuzzy. He shook with all his might to escape his grip, but it was no use. Within seconds he would black out.

"And your friends will not ruin this for me! Not the nurse, not that stupid guard, or even that crazy doctor who thinks he's like a father to those Warner freaks!

"It is psychiatrist!" a familiar German voice answered. Globwobber froze.

"What…?" he turned around to face the person that said it.

"And I  _am_  a father to them"

_Wham!_

Keyboard buttons and bits of plastic and metal sprinkled onto Plotz's face. The cloth fell from his nose. J.W's grip loosened just enough for Plotz to fall to the floor. Coughing and hacking, he looked up at his opponent. Bleeding from his mouth, J.W stood before him with a large lump growing from his head. He wobbled on his unsteady feet, eyes swirling like pinwheels.

"I want to go for a bull ride, daddy…"

J.W Globwobber slumped down with a thud. Standing before Plotz, was the last person he expected to see right now. Scratchesniiff's legs trembled as he tightly gripped a dented laptop in his hands. He dropped his weapon to the ground and stared at his hands.

"T-that felt… really good."

"Scratchensniff?" Plotz struggled to get back on his aching feet. He actually couldn't believe what had just happened. Scratchensniff saved his life.

The spindly toon pulled at his shirt cuffs before he knelt down to help up Plotz. He looked him in the eye.

"The Warners weren't the only ones I needed to find" was his reply.

"I- thank you… I don't know what to say…"

Scratchy held up his hand to stop him. "You don't have to say anything, I get the message. " The psychiatrist replied.

In a strange way, he was glad Scratchensniff said that. Plotz felt there was nothing he could say to emphasize how grateful he was right now. Scratchensniff understood him a lot more than he'd given him credit for.

"Besides, you've never been good a comminuting your feelings.."

The fuzzy feeling Plotz had was gone.

"Of course, you'd say something like that" Plotz said with annoyance.

"I'm a psychiatrist. It's what I do" Scratchy replied. It was as quick-witted as something Yakko would say.

"I swear those Warners  _are_  rubbing off on you" he grumbled before making another realization. "Wait, how'd you even get in here? The door was locked!"

"I had a little help" Scratchy looked over to someone behind him. Plotz's eyes widened when he looked in his direction.

"Slappy?!"Plotz exclaimed. The old squirrel was resting by the door frame with a playful smirk on her face.

"Hey, all it took was a little bit nitroglycerin mixed with a dash of paprika…"

She barely finished her sentence when Plotz gratefully came over and wrapped his arms around her. He normally wasn't an affectionate person, and neither was Slappy. But she barely put up a fight and returned a hug of her own. Slappy had given him the kick in the pants he so desperately needed to finish up this investigation. And it worked.

"That'll do Plotz, that'll do," she said. They embraced each other for a good few seconds before they finally let go. "You know I've met the Three Stooges before…" A content smile rested on her face as she dragged someone into the doorway. It was Corden, tied up by his arms and legs."...But this is my first time meeting their adopted brother, Shemp."

"Ohh…" Corden moaned. The fallen secretary stirred and looked up. "Plotz? What…?"

"Shut up. Your fired" Plotz said bluntly. The man hung his head in response. After everything that happened, this traitor had nothing to say. Slappy looked at the unconscious studio head on the floor with a wave of disgust.

"So what do we do with Kramden over here? Want me to stick some dynamite down his pants?" Plotz smirked at the proposition.

"It'll have to wait, we need to help the others." He replied.

Relax, your friends have this under control. Come on!" she grabbed J.W. and Corden by their shirttails and dragged them out the door. Plotz and Scratchy followed not far behind. Plotz leaned on Scratchy for extra support, his feet aching with each step.

Scratchensniff, when this is over, pencil me in for an appointment will you?" Plotz uttered breathlessly. Scratchy looked down at him and smiled.

"I'll do it as soon as ve reach Burbank"

XXXXX

9:15 AM

Ralph kept an eye on the blast hole Nurse walked out a minute ago. She still hadn't come back yet. Despite this, he could feel his enormous gut swell with confidence. It was over. Muguu and his gang were defeated, and the Warners and mice were back.

He helped his brother Paul pry off the mallet pressing Lionel to the wall. When the mallet finally came loose, he ungraciously fell onto the floor. Paul then dragged him right next Muguu who was currently being tied up by Bonkers and Lucky. The bear sat on the floor with his head held down, not even bothering to put up a fight.

"Ever considered joining law enforcement? Lucky asked his brother.

"Eh, I thought about it, but I've been more into security…" Paul conversed to the pudgy detective. It was great to be able to run into his older brother again. He was always a big help.

His thoughts were interrupted when he laid his eyes on Mr. Muguu. The bear looked him right in the right eye with a sour grimace. Ralph was glad that this guy would be behind bars soon enough.

"Of all the people in this room, I think I hate you the most," he grumbled. That fake friendly tone he'd put on for all the times he'd met him was gone.

"Why?" Ralph asked him. He just couldn't understand why he didn't like him.

"Because there is no way a fat idiot like you should've been able to take us down."

Ralph clenched his fists. He thought of something to say when someone came to his side. Ralph looked down to see it was Wakko.

"So? He still did big guy. He's our fat idiot and more," Wakko spat back. He held onto his hat as if he'd lose it again. Dot came to Ralph's other side.

"We don't really know what that is yet. But it's there" she said. Ralph felt someone clambering up behind his back. Yakko perched himself on his shoulder.

"That's because Ralph knows the Warner motto…" he said.

_I do?_

"…never underestimate someone, they might surprise you."

Ralph was surprised to hear something that profound come from Yakko. It was times like this Ralph knew he could never hate the Warners. They may have given him hell from time to time, but they weren't bullies like Muguu and his crew.

The eldest sibling followed up with another statement. "And you still look like a circus freak with a bad hairdo!"

"You've said that over 100 times and it's still not funny!" Muguu growled. Yakko rubbed the bear's balding head.

"But I bet you it was funnier than anything Bonkers ever said!"

Hey!" Bonkers exclaimed.

"So, I guess we're done huh" Muguu uttered.

"Well, you guys aren't exactly putting up a fight" Bonkers said when he came over to tighten the ropes around Lionel's wrists. Lionel flipped a stray lock of hair out of his face. A notable darkening bruise had formed underneath his eye.

"So, chaps. What are you going to do next?"

Ralph didn't understand why he would even ask that question. Bonkers smirked at it as if it were a funny joke.

"You say that like this isn't over…" he chuckled. He stopped talking when a light hissing came. It made Ralph's blood run cold.

"Who said it is?" Muguu smiled.

Ralph suddenly remembered two things. Siba was hurled outside. But something else was also outside as well, something he and Nurse hurled themselves. His concern heightened when he saw Nurse running back inside. Everyone looked at her face filled with worry.

"Nurse, what's wrong?" Lucky asked her.

"It's Siba, he's missing!" Nurse told him. This only made his suspicion even worse.

"Oh no! He must've run off!" Bonkers groaned.

Ralph looked at the doorway behind Lionel and Muguu. Right at the edge of the doorway, he could see a tiny tip from what looked like a turkey baster filled with a brown liquid. And it was pointed right at Bonkers.

"No, he's didn't!" Ralph yelled.

Ralph leaped over Muguu and Lionel who were directly in his path. He ran to the doorway without a second thought. At the same time, Siba scurried into the room with a mask on. A large turkey baster in hand. Even with the orange mask, he could see the weasel-like creature's eyes open in shock. Siba took aim right at Ralph's chest. Ralph didn't bother to stop.

Siba squeezed the baster twice before he and Ralph collided into a hectic somersault, knocking the baster out of his hands. Ralph landed on the ground, his forehead slamming into the grimy floor. Suddenly, that familiar noxious smell started wafting into his nose.

"It's thinner! Everyone move to the walls!" he heard Nurse yell out. Right as she said that, he felt a tingling sensation in his right hand. He lifted up his hand, it was wet. He'd been splashed. But he swore he didn't even feel the stuff touch him. The tingling turned to a stinging pain that made Ralph moan and wince every time he moved it.

Meanwhile, everyone else, minus Lionel and Muguu kept close to the walls. The dangerous fumes getting stronger with each second.

"Get out of here!" Ralph yelled at everyone.

"You heard em! Come on!" Lucky ordered before he started coughing. He made his way to the edge of the hole. Pretty soon, all the others did the same thing. Within the pandemonium, Ralph saw Yakko hover over his younger siblings as they rushed outside. He knew that despite his joking nature, he'd protect his siblings at any cost. Paul on the other hand barely moved.

"No, I'm not leaving without…"

"Paul, go!" Ralph yelled again. Paul gave a quick remorseful nod before he complied and went through the hole.

"Siba?! Are you mad?!" Lionel yelled. His voice had become noticeably hoarse.

"What are you doing?! Shoot him again!" Muguu shouted between coughs. Ralph caught on to who he was talking to.

Siba was sprawled on the ground, the baster just within reach. Dazed and injured, he slowly reached out for the item. Ralph flopped his entire body onto Siba and reached for the baster himself with his left hand. He screamed when Siba bit down on it and would not let go. It hurt just as bad as the stinging thinner burning the other one. At this point, the baster's rubbery handle was cupped inside Siba hand. Something had to be done now, or Siba would definitely hurt him, or his friends. He'd let these guys call him names, beat him up, and make him feel worthless. But, he was not going to let them hurt his friends. Not again.

So, the guard grabbed onto the back of Siba's head with his right hand, right when Siba was getting ready to take aim. His wet thinner stained hand slowly seeped into the toon's brown fur. What happened next defied all of Ralph's expectations.

Siba's skin started sizzling upon contact. A guttural wail squealed out of him as he arched his head into the air. He let go of Ralph's other hand, leaving red bite marks where his fangs were.

"Eyes! My Eyes!" The snake weasel combo flailed his singed arms and reeled back in pain. Smoke rose from his burning face.

Ralph struggled to keep Siba under control as the rat dog hybrid blindly shot the baster in several directions. The liquid splattered everywhere, two shots splashed just inches away from the blast hole, making everyone else jump back. One zipped right for Lionel's head. He whipped his head away, barely missing it.

"Stop Siba! Look what you're doing!" You're going to…!" Lionel warned. His words were cut off by a shot coming at Mr. Muguu. Despite that he was still tied up, Muguu managed to lurch away just in time. The projectile had missed him completely… but managed to hit something else in its line of fire. Lionel's leg.

"Ohh!" Lionel's face scrunched up before keeling over on the ground.

"Lionel!" Muguu yelled. His mouth gaped open in shock. The shaggy-haired toon began sizzling from his side. The color vanished from his face as if he was losing blood. The same thing was happening to Siba as well. All the colors on their bodies started draining away into a pale gray.

Ralph could barely process what was happening right now. It was hard to tell what smell was worse, the thinner or the odd acrid smell of burning ink that was now present. He watched both Lionel and Siba slowly start to disappear into a puddle of steam and bubbles forming at their feet. Lionel furious rubbed at his melting legs while Siba wriggled and screamed into a cloud forming on the ground.

Muguu trembled as he watched the horror unfold before him. For the first time since Ralph met him, he seemed genuinely concerned. He struggled and bucked until he finally broke the rope binding his arms together.

"No! What's happening?!" Muguu shook Lionel's shoulders. The shaggy-haired toon had already sunk halfway to the ground. Lionel gave a pained grin before coughing.

"It's the last waltz, chap," he said. His face vanished within a steamy cloud of his own. In less than half a minute, both the clouds cleared. The only thing left were two gooey grayish black puddles all over the ground. They were gone. Ralph was speechless. Two toons had actually vanished before his eyes.

Muguu stood over the gooey puddles oozing around his feet. His fur trembled and jittered all over.

"My, c- co-stars…" he stuttered. Slowly, he turned his head towards Ralph. He stopped shaking and gave an intense glare, strong enough to bore holes into his eyes, "You idiot, you did this…"

"I'm, sorry… Ralph uttered softly. The guard struggled to lift himself up, he could barely feel his right arm and chest now. Everyone else faded away except for the giant bear staring him down at him, coughing with every other breath. This wasn't supposed to happen. He hadn't meant for it to happen. But somehow it did. But why didn't Scratchensniff melt when he touched it the thinner? Why was he not melting? "G-get out Mr. Muguu. It's over"

Ralph wondered why he wasn't heading for the blast hole, he'd melt too if he stayed here any longer. Muguu's fists trembled. He looked at his own paw to see his brown fur was beginning to fade. He looked back to Ralph, giving a malicious stare that told him he wasn't leaving.

"I. don't. Care…" Muguu snarled. Out of his mouth came a ferocious roar that rumbled Ralph's eardrums. The savage bear got down on all fours and barreled right towards him. His paws and feet barely sound despite that they splashed into the various puddles on the floor. And the whole time, Ralph sat there on the ground unable to move.

He could still hear some of his friend's voices falling further into the background. Some of them sounded like they were coming for him. But it was too late.

Ralph's eyes darted to the floor. His hand gently gripped the baster. He could barely feel it rubbing against his numb fingers. He strained his all his might to squeeze. Everything around him began to blur and fade into an indistinct haze. He looked up. And the only thing he could see was one final look into the animal's angry bloodshot eyes.

He squeezed. Everything went black. Nothing could be felt except the soft brushes of Mr. Muguu's grimy fur. And then, silence.

XXXX

9:35 AM

Scratchensnfiff never thought in his life he'd have to save his boss from a power-hungry studio head. And considering his oddities he experienced with the Warners, that was saying something. Because Plotz was still too hurt to walk by himself, he had to lean on him for support. This made the trip downstairs a lot longer than before. It was even longer for Slappy who still dragging Corden and Globwobbler in her wake. She was pulling further and further behind.

"You sure you don't need any help? Scratchy asked her. Despite the fact that she was dragging two grown men in her arms, she didn't seem tired at all.

"Nah, my old bones need the exercise. You go on ahead" Slappy persisted.

They had just made it the first floor when the Warners appeared near the bottom step. The doorway he'd come in earlier loomed just up ahead.

"Scratchy! There you are!" Yakko beamed. Scratchy let go of Plotz and embraced him the siblings into another hug. It only lasted a little over a second. All of their faces froze when they locked their eyes to the CEO propping himself up against the stairway. They jumped on him in instant, chattering up a storm and smothering him with hugs and wet smooches. Scratchensniff had to forcibly pull each of them off of him. Plotz rubbed at his damp cheek, cursing under breath.

"I'd never thought in my entire life I'd be happy to see you!" Dot beamed.

"Whatever! Where's…?" Plotz grumbled before he was cut off.

"Plotzy?!" Wakko asked in astonishment. "You're actually here?!"

"Yeah? What of it?!" Plotz barked irritably. "Where everyone else?!"

"Like here and not 'in spirit' here?" Yakko pressed on, he winced his fingers on the words 'in spirit'. It had only been several minutes since they'd been rescued and Warners were steadily returning to their normal routines.

"Will you three forget about me?! Where's Pinky and the Brain?!" Plotz demanded.

"They just got back a few minutes ago, they said the police are on their way." Said Dot.

"Oh thank goodness. Vhat about everyone else? The detectives, Nurse? Ralph?!"

The Warners smile's faltered when he mentioned that last name. They hadn't even said anything yet and Scratchensniff already knew something went horribly wrong.

"Uhhh…. about that" Yakko began to answer, the confidence in his voice wavering.

"Forget it!"Plotz immediately pushed him aside and headed for the doorway. Scratchensniff followed not far behind.

"Wait, stop!" Wakko called out as he and the others ran after them. Right before he and Plotz met the doorway, A noxious smell of what seemed to be thinner and burning ink blasted into their nostrils like a punch in the face. Scratchy felt something pinch on his nose. He looked behind him.

"Don't worry we're prepared this time!" Yakko answered nasally. He and his siblings each had clothespins clamped to their noses. "Found em in the filling station outside"

Scratchy and Plotz took a deep breath before they resumed going through the doorway. Once they did, they were greeted with an awful site.

The lobby room suddenly looked like a scene out of campy alien sci-fi film. Three puddles of gray inky slime spread out all over the floor. Several footprints came in from the blast hole and right towards the largest puddle out of all three. Then they turned right back around, leaving one large clean streak in their wake. It was as something heavy was dragged away.

_Oh god…._

Scratchensniff carefully stepped around each of the puddles, Plotz and the Warners followed behind him. Pretty soon they all came out throughout the hole. After taking off the clothespin, Scratchy took a deep breath. Even though the air was still fishy and rotten, it felt amazing compared what he'd smelled earlier.

The moment of his relief was interrupted when he scanned the area before him. Everyone else was huddled around something in the middle of the field. Discarded clothespins littered the ground around the small crowd. Scratchy and the others came over to peer in. His heart nearly stopped when he realized what they were looking at.

It was Ralph, and he wasn't moving. The tubby guard's entire arm was washed out to a light gray. He'd been splashed, but this was a lot worse. His entire body was stained with the inky slime from inside.

Nurse was on the ground. She'd already taken out her first aid kit and was wrapping a bandage around his arm. The mice were back as well. Pinky was rummaging throughout her kit. He handed a stethoscope for Brain to use. The three of them barely said a word the entire time.

A tube had been stuck inside his mouth. It was hooked up to a flimsily made contraption, a car engine fused with an empty gas can, that drained more of the slime out of his mouth. When it stopped coming out, Pinky turned it off with the flick of a switch. Scratchy had forgotten how resourceful Pinky and Brain could be, no doubt they made this.

Everyone else looked on, voicing their various concerns, unaware Scratchy and the others were here. One of them knelt down and rubbed one of Ralph's shoulders. It was the big man who came with Slappy earlier. Paul was it? Scratchy didn't get a chance to really meet him since he left right when he started pummeling Muguu.

"Come on! Tell us he's going to be okay" the big man said.

He needs fresh air, stand back!" Brain ordered.

"Damn! I knew should have came in sooner!"

"And get yourself splashed too?" Lucky responded sharply. "No way. Ralph had the right idea for everyone to back off."

"But why did those guys turn to terminator goo?!" Bonkers asked. His tone was full of worry.

"Their bodies must have been more unstable than I thought." Brain explained. "Direct contact with the thinner must have unraveled their entire bodies systems"

"But, Scratchy didn't melt! And he also woke up. So why didn't…?"

The bobcat stopped talking when he noticed Scratchy was here. Everyone else went silent when they turned their heads towards him.

"Vhat happened?" Scratchy spoke.

"Ralph saved us," Yakko said quietly. Scratchensniff had almost forgotten the Warners were still by his side.

"But, vhere are Muguu und his friends?" Both the mice looked up at him. Nurse kept her head down, steadily focusing on wrapping his other hand that happened to be bleeding. She pointed to the blast hole behind him.

"In there." Was her simple reply. Scratchensniff felt sick when he looked at the mess inside. It gave him a clearer image of what just occurred.

"Ralph!" Plotz spoke from behind Scratchy's back. Plotz squeeze past him and Yakko and climbed on top of Ralph's gut, shaking him by the shoulders. "Come on, wake up! Snap out of it!"

"Trust me, Mr. Plotz. We've done everything we can." Brain sighed.

"No! No!" Plotz's voice started breaking as he grabbed at Ralph's shirt. He shook and rattled him around, hoping to get some sort of reaction. Nothing. "It's all my fault…"

"Mr. Plotz…" Brain came forward to intervene but stopped when something fell from Plotz's face. When Scratchy saw it too, he understood why. What he saw a sight rarer than him saying he was sorry. Tears were falling from his eyes. Plotz was actually crying.

"You've been a better man than me. Everyone else could see what a rotten person I am, but you're one of few that didn't" Plotz sniffed."Ralph, please wake up. I'm, sorry."

He buried his face into his chest. Scratchensniff came forward and patted Mr. Plotz on the back. His own eyes were beginning to water. Nurse finally looked up and revealed eyes were pink. Scratchy could see she had been doing her very best to retain her composure. But the sight of Plotz's breakdown made a single tear come from her eye. Everyone else looked on in complete somber silence.

He looked down at the Warners standing near him. A few sniffles came from Dot when she and Wakko embraced each other in a hug. But, Scratchy eyes began to dry up when he saw Yakko. The eldest sibling was the only one out of the trio, not on the verge of tearing up. His beady eyes lazily glanced at a wristwatch.

"Three… two… one." He uttered. A muffled cough came. Everyone gasped. The overweight guard began to twitch and turn. His peachy complexion started to flush back on his face. Finally, his opened his eyes. "Called it"

"Plotz…?" the guard croaked. His voice was deep and congested.

"Ralph! Ralph!" Plotz jumped for joy. This was followed by him smacking the side of his forehead.

"Ow!"

"Didn't call that! What the hell, Plotz?!" Yakko exclaimed. Plotz ignored his comment as he grabbed Ralph by the shirttails.

"Don't you scare me like that! Do you know I almost thought you died?!" Plotz scolded him. He went quiet when Ralph clasped onto his hands.

"Plotz…" Ralph cut in. "I- take anvils on the head for a living. This is nothing"

"Oh, thank goodness…" Nurse let out a sigh of relief. She closed her first aid kit.

"Have to say, you've gotten Dot's special scene in 'Wakko's Wish' beat," Wakko admitted.

"Typical, you do  _one_  death scene and suddenly you get imitators!" Dot scoffed.

The guard blinked in confusion. His eyes darted around everyone else staring down at him.

"Duh, what happened?"

Paul knelt down to his eye level and pounded a fist into his shoulder. "You saved the day, little brother" he smiled.

"I've been on the force for a long time, but never met anybody as crazy and dedicated as you." Lucky added. The detective had really grown on Ralph in the last few days.

"Thanks you guys, but right now I really just want to go home…" Ralph said. Nurse wiped a stray tear from her eye.

"You know what? I do too" she grinned.

"Oh, I just love happy endings Brain!" Pinky blubbered, tears starting to come from his eyes. He brought Brain into a bone-crushing hug. Brain sourly didn't protest as his fur was stained with tears again.

"I have to admit. Our experiment may have been a bust, but knowing everyone is okay more than makes up for it." Said Brain. A small, but a grateful smile appeared on his face.

"What are you talking about?!" Bonkers exclaimed happily. He sprang in the air on his furry tail. "Everything worked out better than I thought it would! I guess I should make these search parties a regular feature!"

"No!" Everyone else shouted.

"Exceptions are good enough!" Lucky scolded. The eager bobcat shrugged.

"Eh, it was worth a shot."

"I guess the only left to do is to finish your movie now" Scratchy chuckled. Yakko practically scoffed at hearing that. He wrapped an arm around Scratchy's shoulder.

"Oh Scratchy, What are you talking about? Thanks to you four, the movie's done!"

"What?!" Plotz and Ralph exclaimed. This caught Scratchy off guard as well. He wasn't exactly expecting a response from that.

"You three are actually done?!" Nurse asked them.

"Not just yet!" Slappy called out to them. Scratchensiff and the others turned around to see her dragging both Corden and J.W. from the office. She dropped them on the ground with a thud.

"Ouch!" J.W. moaned. The studio head slowly got on his feet. He gulped when he looked around, shaking at the angry faces staring at him. But what really made him squirm were the three cheery ones among them. His eyes grew as big as saucers when he saw they belonged to the Warners. "Oh, hell..."

"..loooo Globwobbler!" Yakko finished his statement with a cheer.

"Hey look, it's our new friend from his studio" Wakko answered brightly. The trembling man fumbled to stand up straight. He accidentally dropped a walkie-talkie from his pocket, double A batteries rolling on the ground.

"I don't know" Dot jumped in, a mischievous smile on her face. "Friends wouldn't let us get kidnapped"

The Warner trio calmly took a few steps towards him as they continued talking. Corden, who was still tied up, inched away from the studio head who was now sweating profusely. He didn't get far before Slappy grabbed him.

"Now there no need to be rash! I-I can cover all you guys medical bills." Globwobber fumbled with his words. He broke into a run when Paul and Lucky cut him off several feet ahead of him. Everyone else circled around him while the Warner's closed in further. He yelled at Bonkers. "This is assault! You're not going to try and stop them?!"

"Not if your attempting to flee from a crime scene!" Bonkers narrowed his eyes at him. He flashed his badge at the man. "There's a special place I know for people like you"

"Relax, you're in good hands…" Dot said deviously as she filed her nails. Wakko said nothing and whipped out his mallet. Globwobber stumbled and fell onto his back, the trio's shadows looming above him.

"That's right…" Yakko spoke matching her sister's expression and tone. "And we also have a  _certain_  name for people like you too. What was it again? Those experiments really fogged by memory. Uh…a sweet acquaintance, challenged buddy, unique pal?"

"What about you T.P? You remember?" Wakko asked him.

Surprisingly, Mr. Plotz played along and shrugged. "Heck if I know. You remember, Scratchensniff?" He glanced up at Scratchy with a sly smile.

Scratchensniff stared at the sadistic looking Warners before him, and then at the trembling studio head who's hapless expression seemed to a silent attempt to plead for mercy. Scratchensniff couldn't believe he was doing this. This contradicted all of his efforts to control their behavior over the years, but this was an exception he was willing to allow. And no regrets would be given. This despicable person was the main reason the Warners were taken from him in the first place. But as long as he and his friends were still around, it would never happen again. He opened his mouth and said it.

"Special friend?"

"That's it!" the Warners cheered in unison. Globwobber did nothing but scream as the three toons descended upon him. And as they did, Dr. Scratchensniff smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading everyone! Only chapter left! Stay tuned for more!


	19. Epilogue

Chapter: Epilogue

…  _Thanks, Diane I am standing behind the gates of Burbank Airport, where a crowd of fans awaits the return of the Warners…_

…  _Plotz has commented that the Warners and Ralph, are still currently recovering from their injuries at Saint Joseph Medical Center…_

…  _The Warners first major film in over a year is set to come out on July 20…_

…  _mass protests have erupted all around the upper Los Angeles area. Many of the protesters are employees of Globwobber Studios._

…  _James Whitmore Globwobber and Daryl Corden are set to go on trial this upcoming month for the kidnapping of the Warners…_

… _Here with us tonight at ABC, are three brave toons who've braved through a strenuous ordeal. You may know these three from…_

…  _Yakko, do you and your siblings have any regrets in relation to the chaotic production of your latest film? Uh….nope. Not at all. The film was absolutely, perfect"_

XXXX

A few months later. September 26th 11:59 AM

"Yakko, please! Will you hurry up and show us? I need to get to work!" Nurse told Yakko for the tenth time. The eldest Warner refused to answer again, keeping her in the dark literally and figurate. Then again, it could be worse. This wasn't the first time she'd been blindfolded and led by someone's hand. She heard Yakko blow a kiss.

"Goodnight Everybody!"

"What the?!"

"You really need to stop thinking out loud" Dot's voice answered.

"Vakko, remove this blindfold!" Scratchensnifff demanded. He was just as impatient as she was.

"Hold on! You'll see it soon enough!" Dot reassured them.

She and Scratchensniff were on their way to the hospital they' been working at for the past few months. It was just down the street from the studio. So, when the Warners called up and told that they had a surprise waiting for them, they assumed it would be a quick run. Neither hadn't expected them to take this long to get to the point.

"Okay! Now!" Wakko's voice answered. The blindfold came off.

Both Nurse and Scratchy gasped at what they saw. They were inside their old office, completely rebuilt and furnished. Even the furniture was already laid out and unpacked.

It took a moment for them to take in how different the room was now. The room wasn't that much different except for the fact that it seemed a lot more, open.

All the dark green walls from before had been repainted with a lighter tint. Sunlight poured in from a window that was two sizes larger than before. After walking in some more, they noticed the doorway to Scratchy's office was open. It too had a large window, giving a wider view of the movie lot.

"So, do you like it?" Wakko asked.

"We felt it needed that Warner touch" Dot snapped her fingers.

"No need to thank us" Yakko waived his hands before giving a sly grin. "But we don't mind if you do"

"This- this is fantastic!" Scratchensniff exclaimed.

"Pinky and the Brain helped out in getting this room finished on time." Said Wakko.

"Where are those two anyway?" Nurse asked. She already heard that Pinky and Brain were cleared of the kidnapping accusations. However, now they had to answer for the secret lab compartment built under the ground floor. This was whole another issue they'd have to deal with in the near future. Despite this, they kept a low profile.

"Oh, they're staying at our place until ACME Labs is rebuilt," Yakko told them. He pointed at the water tower off in a distance.

"But it's all good, they stay out of the way…" Wakko added. Just as he said that a mini explosion almost blew the lid off the water tower.

"Most of the time" Dot bristled her eyebrows.

"Come on. We should get back home before Brain's next experiment blows up the tower" Yakko said to his siblings. They began to leave when Scratchy stopped them.

"Vait!" The psychiatrist knelt and embraced the Warners them in a big hug. Nurse smiled when he did. "Thank you"

"Don't mention it, Scratchensniff" Yakko uttered just before he let go. The Warners immediately ran out the door.

The door shut behind them, leaving the two of them alone. Scratchensniff walked over to the window of his office and stared outside. Nurse joined him a second later. Outside, the shining water tower stood off in a distance, towering over the myriad of studio buildings halfway through reconstruction.

"These past few months have been insane" he spoke softly.

_Insane is an understatement._

After the takedown in Salton, she naively thought that once they got home, everything would be just like it was before they left. She was not prepared for the swarms of paparazzi and reporters that would be waiting for them in Burbank. So many questions were being asked about what happened, and even more answers were being demanded. The whole thing became a large media circus.

Thankfully the Warners were able to handle the frenzy while she and rest of the gang were able to recuperate. The chatter finally died when the next new sensation erupted just months later. The Warner's movie. "The Rescue of Warner Bros Studios: and the Gang of Four "

Nurse could recall the discomfort she experienced up to the premiere at Los Angeles Film Festival in July. She was far from a movie star and had no desire to be one. But yet everyone started crowding around her and friends as if they were big-time celebrities. This was the most attention they'd ever gotten since Animaniacs. But despite all this, she felt this celebrity worship seemed unwarranted. All she did was help her friends, not end world hunger.

"So, it's business as usual" Nurse shrugged. Both of them sat in silence for a few more seconds. The midday sun warming up their arms. "So how's Plotz? I heard you finally scheduled an appointment with him"

"Better" he simply replied. "He says he still has his issues though"

"What about the Warners? Come to think of it, today would time for their daily sessions."

"I figured I'd stop the sessions, I learned It's better to let them embrace their zaniness than try to suppress it."

She wasn't too surprised to hear that. There was no question at this point that no matter how hard he pushed the Warners to change, they would always push right back. It always seemed better to let them make the change for themselves. Scratchensniff steadily went from being the special friend to their legal guardian.

"Its funny, I realized something on the day we brought them back," Scratchensniff said quietly.

"What was it?" Nurse asked him.

"Do you remember zat day of the fire, all those weeks ago? You came into my office und you asked me something"

"I asked you to tell me about your problem. Why?"

Scratchensniff turned to face her. The tired gaze in his eyes shone through his now repaired glasses.

"Do you know, that in over 40 years I've worked here, no has ever asked me that?"

Now, this was something Nurse hadn't expected to hear. That couldn't have really been true. She knew Scratchy was always considered a high priority to everyone else on the studio.

_All those people he helps on a daily basis. And the Warners…_

"But what about the Warners?" she spoke to him. A tiny chuckle came from Scratchy.

"They never asked, for some reason zey always knew"

He walked over to the couch where he would do his daily sessions. Right above it was a blown-up and a framed photo of him and Warners smiling on their trip to the Caribbean. It was the same small picture he'd carried around with him throughout most of the investigation.

"I think zhey knew there was something I've been missing for a long time, long before I even met them. For years and years, I've done my job. I sat by und listened to all kinds of characters who vanted me to hear  _their_  feelings, be  _their_  guide, to listen to  _them._  But I had no one to do the same for me."

Hearing this come from Scratchensniff was a little unsettling to her. But in a way, she understood. In the past, Scratchy had once told her that there is always a barrier of distance expected to be kept between both the clients and the professional, whether it was nursing or psychiatry. The client only cares about receiving the service they need, and that's it. It was a hard simple fact of professional life. But Warners were different. They turned the tables on Scratchy by showing that they didn't need help, despite varying opinions from the studio. They tapped into a personal side of his life and became a part of it. They were his family.

"I've always had to help solve everyone else's problems. But  _you_  helped solve mine. Thank you"

"Doctor, you know I would have helped you find the Warners, whether you asked or not. Ralph and Plotz too." She replied. While she was touched, she didn't feel it was entirely necessary for him to tell her that. She already knew that he was grateful for all the help the gang gave him. A smile came across the psychiatrist's face.

"I know, but I'm not thanking you for that. I'm thanking you for showing me that no matter what happens in the future, I'll never have to worry about being alone again.

Nurse mouth gaped open to say something, but nothing came out. She had heard a lot of compliments in life from many strangers, boyfriends, and family members, but none of them had ever been as sweet as what he said. Everything he said came together. Not only had she helped save the Warners, she helped save him from himself.

She barely felt the tears coming from her eyes when she hugged him. Scratchensniff had been a lot of things in the 20 years Nurse knew him, psychiatrist, mentor, associate, working partner, and for a long time, an acquaintance. But for the first time in her life, she could now know him as something else. Friend.

"Your Welcome, Otto"

XXXX

"So what do I do next?" Plotz asked his new secretary. The person in question hunched over him, staring down at the flat squared device in his hands. According to him, it was called a tablet.

"See that calendar thing?" Larry pointed to the icon on the top right of the tablet's screen. Plotz's shaky fingers hovered over the spot where it was. "Now just tap it, not too hard"

Plotz dutifully pressed on it, and all his scheduled appointments popped up on a list.

"Like that?"

"See you're getting now." Larry smiled.

"What? That's all I had to do?" Plotz recoiled in disbelief. It was insultingly crazy at how easy it was to operate this thing. He hadn't expected Larry to be such a huge help in figuring out how to work these new devices. Now he could say with confidence that finally he learned how to do more than press a button on a telephone.

"Speaking of meetings; it looks like you have one right now."

The door opened. Lucky and Bonkers came through the doors. Larry nodded at them before he walked out of the room.

"Hiya, big guy!" Bonkers chirped. He hobbled over to the desk and vigorously shook his hand, jiggling Plotz's stubby body like jelly. Thankfully, Lucky pulled him away before Bonkers nearly ripped his arm off.

"You wanted to see us, sir?" Lucky asked.

"It's good to see you two again. How's the shoulder?" Plotz asked him. The fat cop was no longer in a sling like he was before. He rose his arm and flexed his bicep with a cocky grin.

"Better than ever"

"So, how are things up in LA?"

Lucky shrugged his shoulders. "Oh, same old, same old. Got a few cases coming in for us. Could be better, but for what it is. It's fine. I'm still adjusting to that fact Bonkers is apparently a 'writer' now"

He narrowed his eyes at Bonkers, uttering the word 'writer'. Plotz already knew what he was referring to. For some odd reason, Bonkers was credited under that title in the credits of the Warner's movie. Lucky was probably pissed since his major credit was "Michelle Phifer Stand-In"

"What can I say? I'm full of surprises!" Bonkers replied innocently.

"Unfortunately," Lucky rolled his eyes. He returned his gaze to Plotz. "But, we've been doing alright."

"Really? Because I think I know another position that might bring more traffic" Plotz handed them a flyer he'd been holding onto since last month. Both of the detective's eyes grew as they read it.

"A new toon division for the El Paso Police Department?!" Lucky stated. He could barely contain his excitement. The CEO shared his sentiment, it was a welcome change that he never thought would reach his hometown.

"Turns out they need a few senior members to get things started." Plotz smiled. "So, what do you think…?"

Plotz didn't get to finish his sentence when Bonkers embraced him in a tight hug. He kissed the top of his bald head, making him squirm.

"You're just the guy that keeps on giving!" Bonkers gushed dramatically. Behind him, Lucky cleared his throat.

"Bonkers…" Lucky warned. The bobcat gave him a sheepish grin before letting go. He then dutifully held out for Plotz to shake it.

"Thanks" The CEO was relieved when the bobcat gave a firm but gentle shake.

"No problem. You know, you're not so bad when your mouth isn't flapping 24/7" Plotz replied. Bonkers face beamed with delight. It was as if this were the first time anyone had ever complimented him like this. And considering his reputation, it probably was.

"Really?! Maybe, I could star in a few shorts…"

"Don't push your luck, Bonkers" Lucky muttered briefly. Plotz went stone-faced before he looked up at the two of them.

"You know, I never gave you two the treatment you deserved after pulling through for us," Plotz explained before he reached into his pocket. Both detectives gasped when they saw him pull out a check made out to them. "I wanted to show a little extra gratitude"

"Oh, Mr. Plotz you've already paid us! You don't have to that. We're just doing our jobs." Bonkers protested. He was cut off when Lucky placed a hand over his mouth.

"No, no. Come on, Bonkers. If he insists it's best to accept it." He told him. Plotz said nothing as he dutifully handed the check over to his hands. "Besides it's probably nothing too big, Gahhh…!"

Lucky's jaw hit the floor when saw the amount on the check. Bonkers eyes popped out of his head when he did likewise. Plotz nearly chuckled at their response. He hadn't expected see such a visually wild reaction from a couple of Disney toons.

"Whoa! I never seen that many zeros on my paycheck before! And Lucky, I never seen your mouth get that big!" the bobcat said. Lucky stood in place, babbling incoherently at their gift.

"That should cover your old police cruiser shouldn't?" Plotz asked them. Nothing but wheezes and cackles came out of Lucky's mouth.

The delirious cop nearly stumbled backward before Bonkers caught him. He helped him out the door, coddling his hand underneath Lucky's dislocated jaw which was drooling onto his gloved hands.

"It does! See ya, Mr. Plotz!" Bonkers told him as he went out the door.

"Goodbye!" Plotz waived at them. The door slammed shut. The big cop's mumbling and the bobcat giddy chattering faded away into the background.

The CEO patiently sat in the solitude of his office, just like he'd always did. A ticking clock broke the calming silence. It would be another three hours before he would interview a toon by the name of Herman the Cat. He didn't know if his guest's talents would be just as washed up as he expects him to be, or actually show some promise. All he knew was that he was better hands than with someone like Globwobber. This toon, just like Larry, was one of the many toons that quit Globwobblers Studios after his secret kidnapping plan went public.

A trial went into effect earlier in the past summer. While Globwobber had his arsenal of lawyers, Plotz had his own arsenal along with several testimonies, a copy of the original contract from Larry, and a mound of other evidence he and his entourage uncovered. And much to his surprise, even Slim and Notts came forward to testify.

Globwobber preached that because Muguu and his crew were considered property of Globwobber studios, that anything that happened to them was legal. He even went as far as to say that Plotz and his crew should be charged for assault, insubordination, and slander. Corden, who was also on trial, parroted the same points in his defense. But when the film came out, all of that went down the drain. On top of being a movie, it was the Warner's biggest testimony. Plotz's head still rolled after finding the truth from the Warners themselves.

It turned out their project "Gang of Four" was actually a documentary. The initial idea centered around Warner the trio as they uncovered Globbowbber's secret project with the mice.

Even though their plan was secret, they wanted to capture most of what they could on film. Early on, when they agreed to help Brain, they suggested making several hidden cameras. Brain went all out without question. Some were tiny cameras under a hat, flies on the wall that you'd normally ignore, and even a few tiny dots stuck to people bodies.

As confident as the Warners were about this plan, they had a feeling something would go wrong. So to add an outside element to the group, they brought along Bonkers for assistance and distributing camera work just before their absence. Bonkers was actually in on the plan  _before_ Plotz hired him for the investigation. And this was something no one knew about, not even Lucky.

Of course, Plotz felt extremely violated by this. He and others were being watched and they didn't even know it? After finding out this detail, he spent days checking his belongings to ensure he wasn't bugged.

The movie's guerilla-style filming process managed to incriminate every single point Glowobbler tried to make. Not only was the trial hurting his reputation, it had also affected him finically. Despite his best efforts, he couldn't go any further.

Finally, the verdict came. Globwobber was sentenced 15 to 20 years in prison for kidnapping, attempted manslaughter, and arson. Corden was sentenced to 10 years as an accomplice to the crimes. Plotz honestly thought the sentence was far too light for them. 100 would have been more fitting. But hey, he was a CEO, not a judge.

A brief thunk roused his attention. He slowly looked up from his desk to see three pairs of beady eyes staring at him.

"Hello" he greeted flatly.

"That's the first time we barged unannounced and you didn't jump out of your suit." Said Yakko, scratching his head in confusion.

"You three are getting predictable. It's hard to be surprised anymore." The CEO complained. Dot reeled back in shock.

"Have we really gotten that rusty?!" she asked her brothers. Wakko lifted up his arm and squirted an oil can underneath his armpit. He lowered his arm to let it dangle like a pendulum.

"I don't think so" he mused. Plotz rolled his eyes.

"What are you three even doing here?" he asked.

_If I earned a dollar for every time I'd said that…_

"Well, we want to say…" Yakko spoke calmly.

" _Happy Birthday!"_  Wakko and Dot chirped in harmony.

"My birthday was six months ago!" Plotz spat irritably. He didn't care that they'd been in captivity for over a year. They knew better than that.

"So better late than never" Yakko commented before he and Wakko lifted up a small gift box onto the desk. Plotz's entire body went stiff as lead when he saw the suspicious package presented to him. No way was he going to open it.

_It's a bomb! Or Dot's secret pets! Or worse it's that clown we brought in one time!_

"Well go on! Open it!" Wakko goaded him to get on with it. Plotz grudgingly agreed and did as told.

He scooted back in his seat. With one arm he reached out and gently pulled at the red stringy ribbon tied around the blue box. The ribbon fluttered to the ground. Clenching his eyes shut, he gripped the top of the lid and lifted it up. Nothing happened. He opened his eyes to see the present and himself were still intact. He pulled the box close to him. His confusion heightened when he finally saw what was inside.

Inside was a small group of photos. They were all high gloss on 5x8 cardstock. Plotz took them out, his finger pursed on the first. A grizzled red-haired man held up his serial number in front of a white wall. It was a mugshot of Alameda Slim., but something was seriously off.

"Wait, when did this happen?!" Plotz asked. As elated as he was to see this scoundrel behind bars, it didn't make sense. Slim nor Knotts were convicted in the trial, much to his disappointment.

"Just last week; apparently Slim Goodbody here forgot that you still need to pay property taxes when you're crossing the state border…" Yakko explained. "So, we decided to pay them a visit"

It was here Plotz finally realized the odd thing that was throwing him off. The cowboy's signature mustache was missing. Then he took another look at the red ribbon on the desk, which was now bent in a familiar handlebar shape.

"You didn't…!" Plotz looked up with astonishment. Wakko beamed a toothy smile while holding a pair of hair clippers.

"Aw, he's fine. By the time he's out of jail, his mustache will be halfway back" the middle sibling reassured him. Plotz gingerly placed the red hair on top of his bald head. As he did, Dot brought out a mirror for him to see himself. It lay on top of him like a red pair of steer horns.

"Hmm... not bad." Plotz nodded in agreement. He was kidding when he said that Slim's mustache it would have made a nice toupee. Turned out he wasn't far from the truth. Plotz proceeded to go through the rest of the photos.

"What do you think? We took them ourselves" Dot asked.

"There…okay. Decent" Plotz muttered. He did his best not let on how fantastic these shots were. Each and every shot was well lit and composed as if it were done by a professional. A grin stretched further across his face as he flipped through each and every one, recapping various events that happened over the past few months.

One was of Ralph, standing next to his son decked in full graduating gear. Plotz donated a hefty sum in order to cover his son's tuition bills. He, along with Scratchensniff, Nurse, even Ralph's wife managed to make it out to graduation. He still wondered how Ralph's relationship was going at this point.

Next up was Scratchy, Nurse and the Warners standing in front a castle at Disneyland. It was the first time Warners set foot inside ever since they were banned for accidentally blowing up Mickey's house in 1995.

Another was of him and Ralph at Comic-Con posing with their favorite actor Frank Welker. Something he would have never done by himself, had he not been persuaded by Ralph.

After that were a few screenshots from different 'scenes' of the movie. One was a dramatic shot of Ralph when he first met Mr. Muguu and his gang, another was a shot him and Slappy sitting on the bench in Esther Way. Then there was one action shot of Scratchensniff when he socked Slim in the face, it Plotz's favorite scene in the entire movie.

The next few were various red-carpet shots of the gang taken at the premiere of the Warner's movie in Los Angeles.

The movie did very well, epically since it had little to no financed marketing. Over 4 million dollars was raked in just within the first weekend. It was enough to avoid plunging the studio into bankruptcy. Some critics pointed out that while the performances were good, even though there were no real performances in the movie, the whole thing was just a hacked up project in which the Warners took a backseat to their main cast. Which was true.

According to the Warners, they were in fact, making up the movie as they went along. The entire production basically hindered on chance, coincidence, and other things out of their control. The Warners had to edit down hours and hours of footage to not only to condense for time, but also to shift the focus away from them, and onto him and rest of the gang. Under normal circumstances, this is classic recipe for disaster for any major film. But he knows the Warners are far from normal. And somehow, they managed to make it all work.

Never in million years would he ever think he'd be the star of a movie. Plotz sure didn't feel like one though. He was a CEO, not an actor, his place didn't belong on the screen. No one wants to watch a short angry man yell at everyone all the time, which was part of the reason he only starred in less than half of the episodes of Animaniacs. So it was a huge surprise when he found himself not cringing as much as he thought he would when he saw the final cut of the movie. Not only did they show more of his vulnerable moments, they made look somewhat heroic. The Warners intentionally, made him look good for once.

The last photo made him stop smiling. It was an older picture of him, miserably frowning at his desk while the youthful Warners crowded around him. He recognized it as a screenshot from one of the last episodes of Animaniacs, Hooray for North Hollywood. It was one the episodes that jump-started their venture in movie making. Plotz looked up. In front of him, the Warners leaned on his desk, their sly and devious eyes staring right at him. He did not like where this was going.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Back in Salton, when you were talking to Globwobbler. There was something  _very peculiar_  you said about us." Yakko said coolly. He tapped his fingers on the desk. "I think you know it."

_Damn._

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Plotz waived him off. Yakko chuckled.

"Oh, I think you do. You said don't hate us"

"Ah, don't make a big deal out of it. Don't think just because I don't hate you, I wouldn't have sold you out if I had the chance!"

"Suuuuure you would have!" the trio droned at him, their voices coated with sarcasm.

"So, if you don't hate us, does that mean you missed us?!" said Dot.

"Wait a minute I never said that!" Plotz spat back. Now they were trying to put words in his mouth.

"Come on! If you missed us, you love us!" Wakko nudged the side of his cheeks. He then wriggled himself inside the back of Plotz's shirt collar. Plotz dug his fingers in to pull him out, but Wakko was already in too deep. Then he felt his fingers tickling his ribs.

"No! Get out of there!" He lurched forward, desperately trying to shake him out.

"Your mouth says no, but your eyes say…" Dot said, raising her eyebrows.

"Shut up!" The tickling got worse. Now he could he feel him underneath his armpits. The corners of his mouth creaked upward, and his cheeks went red.

"You're in denial, T.P," said Yakko.

"I'm not! Stop it!" Plotz could barely talk over his own giggling. He was unable to fight what felt like a million ants crawling all over his body. Tears were coming from his eyes when Wakko continued his ticklish assault. "He's getting in my underwear! Make him stop!"

"Three words are all we're looking for Plotz. "I missed you"" was Yakko's simple reply.

"No!" Plotz flailed helplessly across his desk, howling and cackling with laughter. He pounded into the wooden surface as he begged for them to stop this unusual torture method. "Alright fine! I missed you! I missed you! Now Stop!"

Plotz froze when he heard a click go off. The tickling stopped. A sensation of relief washed over him when Wakko finally slithered out his shirt cuff and appeared back at his brother's side. Slow heavy breaths came out of Plotz while his sore ribs were still tingling.

"That'll be perfect for our Instagram page." Dot gazed down at a smartphone. "And… send!"

She showed her brothers a moving image on the small device's screen. Plotz saw himself falling over, guffawing up a storm. They had gotten him on camera. Again. Plotz ground his fists into the edge of his desk, looking up at the Warners with a hard glare on his face.

"I hate you" he growled. The Warners smiled back.

"And we love you too," Dot said, right before she leaned in and kissed him on his nose. She twiddled on her toes and skipped out the room.

"See ya T.P!" Yakko added before he ran out.

"See you around, Grand dadooo!" Wakko waved at him before following them out the door. Plotz stood up on his desk, hearing that caught him off guard.

_They never called me that before…_

Plotz carefully leaped off the desk and into his office chair. The quiet ticking returned. His mind dwelled on Scratchensniff's appointment this past week. It was the first one he did in years ever since he had one dealing with his fear of clowns. He still shuddered whenever someone mentioned the name Pennywise…

But this one didn't go like he planned. It didn't make him feel better, but it didn't make feel worse either. He was surprised that Scratchy didn't pester him with a million questions like he normally did with his clients. But despite this, still he was plagued with a few questions of the whole ordeal with Globwobbler.

_How did Esther come to grow such a connection with Globwobber? Why couldn't Esther admit to Plotz that he was a better recruiter than him?_

Scratchensniff had proposed a number of possibilities; pride, stubbornness, or maybe shame. Whatever it was, it was too late to do anything now. Esther was still dead and gone. And Plotz highly doubted that he'd get a definite answer anytime soon. Scratchensniff stated the only thing he could really do learn from it and move on. When the session ended, Scratchy suggested that they should try again another time. And this time around, Plotz thought that was a good idea.

For Plotz, this was something he could deal with. He learned early on not to measure success based on someone else's expectations, even if those came from someone he once looked up too. Esther, whether he liked him or not, played a big part in making him the toon he was today. And any father that managed to do that, must have been worth something.

He hated to admit it, but Globwobber was partially right about one thing. Both of them were alike; driven, short-tempered, and big visionaries. The only difference was Globwobbler tried to find his own way to run a thriving studio. And in doing so he nearly destroyed the lives of several toons in the process. The only casualties were the ones he promised a reward and his own career.

Plotz, on the other hand, had a lot of people to make up for what a crummy person he really was. There was a time when he thought Corden was the only person in his life who was really looking out for him, but he realized he had that person all along. In fact, he had a couple; Scratchsnifff, Nurse, Ralph, and a few others he probably hadn't taken time to notice. This whole experience brought the gang closer than ever before. And he would always cherish that. The following thought almost made him throw up.

_Now I'm starting to sound like a damn Lifetime movie!_

He took another look at the final picture in the stack. To think it all of this started from a project created by three kids that didn't want to stay locked up in a water tower. The Warners who he thought at one point ruined the studio, helped save it. If he was able to bond with his friends, maybe he could do the same for the Warners.

"Someday…"

He opened up a drawer in the side of the desk to put the pictures inside.

_Splat!_

A wallop of cream and Custard splattered onto his face. He fell out of his chair and onto the floor.

"What the heck?!" Plotz sputtered, whipped cream coming from his mouth.

When he looked up, a loaded pie pan sprang out of the open drawer, a first in this new location. A gooey note fell from the pan. He grabbed it. When he wiped it off, he saw the note on the pie pan:

_How's that for predictable? - Love Yakko_

Plotz sat in his seat, his entire body burning bright red.

_I did say Someday, but not today!_

"Warners!"

XXXX

Ralph sauntered back to his booth when his break had ended. He huffed a bit as he wiped beads of sweat from his head, the hot sun burning down upon it. While it was time for fall, it still seemed that Burbank's heatwave would last into the end of this season.

"Hello there, Ralph!" A European voice called out to him. Ralph turned around to see the hippos, Flavio and Maria jogging past him.

"Care to join us for our daily morning jog?" Maria asked him. This was the nicest they'd ever spoken to him for a while.

"Duh, no thanks" Ralph waved at them. The two hippos nodded and went about their business.

"Hey! How's it going, big guy?" Slappy yelled. She waved at him from a distance, wheeling around a wagon full of TNT.

"Good" Ralph waived back.

This was happening more and more frequently ever since he returned to Burbank. Going from being ignored to nearly being the talk of the studio was something he'd have to learn to get used to. Finally, he reached the booth at the front gate. The other guard that was filling in for him was coming out of the booth. It was his first day on the job.

"Dah, How'd you like your first shift?" Ralph asked him. The other guard tugged at the shirt tails of his tight-fitting blue uniform.

"Not bad, I don't know about your friends though," Paul said to him. A tiny grimace undercut his cool demeanor. Ralph didn't have to ask to know who he talking about.

"Ah, theys will warm up to you" Ralph brushed it off. Paul scoffed.

"We'll see…"

Ralph looked down at his own left arm and frowned when he saw his hand. It was still washed out to a light gray. While he'd made a full recovery after the takedown in Salton, the thinner had left a permeant scar on his hand. He was told it would never return to its original color.

Plus, it was a grim reminder of what he did to Muguu and his friends. As much as he disliked those three, he wasn't a killer. No toon deserved that. He'd overheard that in the meantime, the gooey remains of Muguu, Lionel, and Siba were being kept at various labs for further experimentation and research. Rumors were going around that they could be reanimated and maybe rehabilitated. A small part of him hoped that was true.

"I wonder if there is anything to cover this up" Ralph lifted up his hand. Paul stared at the scar and shook his head.

"Nah, I wouldn't do anything to it. I'd say it gives you character."

"Ya think so?"

"Yeah, I do. Whoa!" Paul's eyes squinted from a brief glare in his eyes. It came from the shiny silver badge on Ralph's chest. "When did you get that?!"

"Just last week. I is a senior guard's now." Ralph beamed proudly. He received the badge from Plotz after being promoted just a few weeks ago. On top of being a security guard, he was a trainer now as well.

Your boss couldn't have picked a better person for the job"

"Aww, you're just saying that because you're my brother" Ralph pounded a fist into his arm

"Yeah, and? It's still true" Paul slapped him on the shoulder. "And dad would have thought so too"

"Yeah, he would have…"

"See ya later, Ralph." Paul waved him a quick goodbye. He noticed on the back of his head, someone had scribbled a game of tic tac toe in black marker. And when Ralph stepped inside the booth, he met the culprits responsible. They'd huddled around his portable TV that he never bothered to replace.

"Can you believe this chump still uses a tv with an antenna?" Yakko said as he pounded on the small device. Ralph's brow lowered as he cleared his throat. The Warner trio sat up at attention, nervous smiles plastered across their faces. "But then again, I hear it's all rage with hipsters nowadays!"

Ralph grabbed all three of them in his arms and plopped them onto the ground outside the booth. He opened his mouth to say something when Yakko held up his hand.

"Wait! Don't tell me!" he started. Yakko puffed out his gut and wagged his finger. "Duhh… that wasn't a nice thing you did to my brother" he drawled in an uncanny impression of him.

"I don't sound like that!" Ralph remarked, trying to ignore that he indeed predicted what he was going to say. "And it wasn't!"

"Come on, when you tell a Warner that Lebron could beat Curry in a pogo stick match, your pretty much asking for it."

Ralph shook his head. His brother had only been on the job for a day and they already made him another "special friend'. He could recall lasting just over his first week before the Warners granted that title to him.

"How're things going with you and the family?" Wakko asked him. Ralph blinked, trying to fully process what he just heard. Were the Warners concerned with his well-being for once?

"Fine, R. J's going to do work in bioengle... bipo... bioengineering." Ralph said, happy he finally pronounced that word right. He had no idea what bioengineering was, but he was still happy for his son all the same.

"What about the missus?" Yakko asked.

"We's still apart, but we're on speaking terms" For now, Ralph was fine with that. While his wife was still critical about his job, they had both been falling out of love for a while anyway. A little time was probably the best choice. "Thanks, though"

"Hey, the single life is not so bad" Wakko spoke.

"You could be just like us. Lifelong Warner bachelors!" Yakko added. He and his brother burst into a fit of laughter.

"Boys…" Dot groaned. "It's sad a dope like you is more mature than them." The laughter stopped when Yakko's eyes grew. The eldest Warner sibling noticed a framed picture stood up inside the booth. He snatched it up.

"Duh, hey be careful with that!" Ralph called out. Yakko's giddy smile lessened when he stared at it for a few seconds.

"Wow, hadn't thought about him in a moment." Yakko's voice softened. "Hey, sibs. Look who it is"

The other two siblings huddled around him to get a closer look at the small black and white picture of his dad. Nurse really was right, if he ever grew a goatee he'd look just like him.

They gently cradled the picture, gazing at it with great tenderness. Ralph came over and stood right above them. He'd never seen the Warners show this much affection for someone he'd known. It amazed him sometimes. These chaotic kids who didn't have real parents of their own, somehow managed to make themselves apart of everyone's lives around the studio, even before he got to know them himself. That was something he always loved about working here.

"We never could outrun him" Dot uttered.

"I don't think he ever had to worry about a dry streak like you did" Wakko commented. He looked up at Ralph to hand the picture back to him. Ralph then put it back in its original spot.

"Well, at least I gots rid of my dry streak," Ralph said, laying back in the seat of his booth. The Warners siblings looked at each other with coy smirks.

"Are you sure about that?" said Yakko. A sly grin on his face.

Ralph sat up in his seat. "Yeah! I caught you three!"

"Uhhh… no, you didn't" The burly guard was no longer smiling.

"What?! Dah, what are talking about? Of course, I did!"

"Nu-uh!" Dot said while shaking her head.

"Yah huh!" Ralph snatched them up by their ears. The Warners continued to shake their heads.

"Nah, I think Scratchensniff did the majority that" Wakko played along. Glaring, the security guard got right into their faces.

"But I found where you was hiding, I even found one of the clues. I saved your lives!" he yelled at them.

The eldest Warner held up his hands in defeat. "Okay! Okay, you win! So your dry streak is over. Well in that case…" Yakko pulled on a dangling rope he hadn't seen until now.

_Sploosh!_

Before Ralph could figure out where it came from, a freezing chill came over him as he was showered with gallons of seawater. Slimy seaweed and algae draped over his dripping uniform. He peeled a starfish from his face.

"…Let the wet streak begin!" Yakko and his siblings slipped out of his grasp, zipping away from them at top speed. Behind them, Ralph was right on their tail, a playful grin on his face. The cool water actually felt refreshing. It finally felt like things were returning to normal on the Warner Brothers movie lot. Once again the Warners were on the loose, and it was up to Ralph to catch them. And he wouldn't have had it any other way.

END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I finally finished uploading this story. Even though I write these fanfics for fun, I always intended for this story to be a chance to take my writing a bit more seriously. Especially since it deals with issues I myself had to deal with over the years. I know that sounds silly since this is just a fanfiction, but it always been a cathartic personal project for me. And I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
> 
> Only thing left to do now is iron out any leftover word flubs and get started on the next story. So feel free to review, and leave constructive criticism whenever you can. And if you like, check out other my stories; "Light's Warners, Cut!" and "Warner's Get the Boot" if you haven't already.
> 
> Also, I own none of these characters except for my OC's Muguu, Siba, Lionel, Corden, and Paul.   
> Mr. Globwobber and Larry are in fact real characters from the Tom and Jerry movie: Fast and Furryous.
> 
> Thank you all for your support. And as the Warners would say...
> 
> Goodnight Everybody!


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